Nigeria must take advantage of e-Revolution – Uwadia

President of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) Prof. Charles Uwadia has challenged Nigeria to take advantage of the on-going electronic-revolution (e-Revolution) to push further economic development.

Prof. Uwadia made this assertion while delivering the inaugural lecture on “Software Systems: the Driving Force Behind the e-Revolution” at the Main Auditorium, University of Lagos (UNILAG), at the weekend.

The professor of computer science and Director, Centre for Information Technology and Systems (CITS) at UNILAG said the contributions of Africa and Nigeria in particular has nothing to write home about.

He said that apart from the contributions of Nigerians in diaspora, the country has remained onlooker, bystander and at best beneficiary and consumer of these revolutions.

“The e-Revolution, information society, knowledge economy has been with us for quite some time, and is still unfolding,” he said, urging that Nigeria take advantage of the unfolding aspect to make active her impact.

According to him, the 21st century has been largely referred to as the Digital Century and Nigeria needs to take the digital advantage of the emerging scenarios in order to minimize the challenges of the digital divide.

This, he said saved the nation from an impending digital disaster that could lead Nigeria to becoming a digital colony.

He went on to recommend a five-point agenda for Nigeria, including a framework for participating in the e-revolution, software development policy, software development curricular and instruction in educational institutions, development of the software industry and models for adopting computing and computerization as a way of life.

“We must join the club of Digitally Wealthy Nations,” he declared.

Uwadia stressed that Nigeria needs a framework for participating in the e-revolution arena, suggesting that Nigeria should fall back on the declaration of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) and derivatives of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

He pointed out that Nigeria blend these documents with some of the Nigeria’s national initiatives such as the National Economic Empowerment Strategy (NEEDS), Vision 20-2020, National Information Technology Policy and Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) among others.

This, when properly implemented, he said, would put Nigeria on the path of active participation in the e-revolution.

“I wish to note with gladness that the National IT policy of 2001 has been reviewed by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) working with stakeholders, while the reviewed policy should be approved by the Federal Executive Council without further delay for full implementation,” he said.

Uwadia also called for a National Policy on Software Development, saying that it should be developed and implemented.

This policy, he said, is to be driven from the National IT Policy framework thereby becoming a strategic imperative for nation building, development and creation of wealth.

“I am happy to report that NITDA has recently set up a committee headed by Prof. O.C. Akinyokun of the Federal University of Technology (FUTO) Akure, to produce a National Policy on Software Development,” he said.

On the software development curricular and instruction in educational institutions, Prof. Uwadia noted that this entails that principles, techniques and tools should be accorded greater attention in the curricular of computer sciences and information technology programmes in the educational institutions.

“Exposure to programming at the most basic form should begin at either kindergarten or primary school level,” he said.

The NCS president pointed out that while principles and techniques of programming do not change too often, programming tools evolve and new ones are developed quite rapidly.

“Therefore, provision should be made for constant review of that aspect of programme curricular,” Uwadia declared.

He said that over the years, many students detest the word ‘programming’ simply because they perceive programming courses as difficult subjects that should be avoided where possible and except where the courses are compulsory.

“The students do everything possible to obtain pass mark. This is similar to the perception of mathematics by students in secondary schools,” he said.

In addition, Uwadia advocated for creation of incentives and motivation for the learning of programming, which could be done by creating stimulating learning environment through the provision of adequately equipped computer laboratories, award prizes and according recognition for outstanding performance.

He said the formation of software development clubs in schools, for instance, would boost networking for the exchange of ideas and knowledge as well as organizing more software competitions in schools.

“Teachers and lecturers handling programming courses should reskill and retool regularly. They must keep abreast of development in the area among others,” he said.

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Saving lives with telecommunications

Life, they say, has no duplicate. Making a save of it, especially at emergencies is key role of telecommunications, hence the call on all stakeholders to see telecommunications as a life-saving infrastructure, writes REMMY NWEKE.

Preamble:
Many a times people underrate the value of communications, especially at emergencies depending on their state of the minds, but once this piece of technology is activated, the trend seems to change; from saving lives to receiving aids of different sort.

In the delivery of communications, telecommunications plays an unparallel role in enthroning a new order in a disorderly environment occasioned by emergencies which could arise as a result of one disaster or another.

Emergencies come in various degrees but in most cases such arising from natural disaster seems to be very massive whenever it occurs. An instance was the recent earthquake in Japan which disasters disrupted the national economies.

A major concern has been the fact that the impact usually leaves many, especially the poor further weakened and in fact more vulnerable, thereby causing a clog on the wheel of progress, moreso in the sustenance of development and reduction of poverty in developing nations.

It was on this light that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) recently brought its Global Emergencies Response effort to bear on the Japan earthquake.

The Japanese sad story:
Overtly described as Japan’s most influential earthquake ever on record; at the north-east coast, triggering a massive tsunami, forcing vehicles, sea-fares and edifice to be swept away by a wall of water after the 8.9-magnitude tremor, which struck about 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo.

Although a state of emergency has since been declared at the nuclear power plant, which was reportedly to had emanated excessive pressures with officials putting death toll to about 350, while over 500 persons were declared missing, whereas in the community of Sendai, a port city in Miyagi prefecture, dead bodies numbering between 200 and 300 were found.

The quake was the fifth-largest in the world since 1900 and nearly 8,000 times stronger than the one which devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, in the month of March according to scientists, reports BBCnews and has even triggered the shutting of four other nuclear plants safely, the United Nations Nuclear officials said.

… Ego trip:
Reacting to the Japanese latest earthquake, the United States’ Secretary of State, Mrs. Hillary Clinton said the US Air Force had flown emergency coolant to the site. Although later it was discovered that the Japanese insisted on handling the situation themselves.

Looking at the above scene, one cannot but appreciate the impact communications may have brought to bear on the situation. Therefore, the decision by ITU to contribute towards ameliorating the impact of the earthquake cannot be over-emphasised.

A call and evacuation of Nigerians in Libya:
Investigations revealed that it was reportedly a few telephone calls to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nigeria as well as some highly placed individuals at the presidency, which paved the way for the Nigerian authority to realize the need to evacuate Nigerians from the trouble zone of Libya recently.

As aftermath, President Goodluck Jonathan represented by his Vice president Namadi Sambo, at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on February 23, 2011, ordered the evacuation of Nigerians stranded in Libya, even as criticism was gaining momentum that the government response was slow.

According to Sambo, evacuation plans had commenced in the North African country, Libya, which has a high figure of Nigerians, who regularly use the country as a departure route to Europe.

Briefing newsmen as follow up to FEC outcome, the Information and Communication Minister, Mr. Labaran Maku, said the council discussed the situation in Libya and the Middle East and the condition of Nigerians in these countries.

Equally speaking at the briefing, the Foreign Affairs minister, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia, said the situation is being monitored by his ministry, assuring that Nigerians will be evacuated from Libya’s biggest cities, Tripoli and Benghazi on.

Close contact @ emergencies:
“We are in close contact with our envoys. I want to assure Nigerians that the President is committed to ensuring the safety and security of our citizens. I want to assure you that whatever measures are necessary would be taken to ensure their safety and security.”

Ajumogobia declared, adding that Nigerian diplomats in the country have since evacuated their families as is the custom so that they can concentrate on the work at hand.

As at March 17, the evacuation of about 4,000 with the last batch of 194 Nigerians stranded in Libya, including the Nigerian embassy officials, according to the Director General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Muhammad Sani-Sidi, particularly those who registered with the Nigerian Embassy at the Tripoli International Airport.

In a related development, a special team made up of officials from NEMA, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Commission for Refugees, Nigeria Immigration Services, Civil Defence Corps among other relevant security agencies was set up to receive other passengers that may be brought in by the International Organisation for Migrations (IOM) and United Nations Agency for Refugees who have continued to evacuate stranded citizens through Libya’s neighbouring countries like Egypt and Tunisia.

What the aforementioned shows, mostly ‘we are in close contact with our envoys” is that they were communicating which has been made possible through the instrumentality of telecommunications being available.

Emergency communication and ITU:
Experts agreed that without communication through broadcasting and physical telephone communications a lot of fears should have taken over the situation thereby heightening it to an alarming rate through the fear of unknown; if it could extend to communities, especially based on the childhood understanding of ‘nuclear’.

For ITU led by Dr. Hamadoun Toure, as its Secretary General, the impact could have been worse for those living in remote and isolated areas with no access to basic information and communication facilities that are essential to providing vital alerting information. And in order to mitigate the impact of disasters, timely dissemination of authoritative information before, during, and after disasters is critical.

ITU’s activities in the field of radiocommunications, he said, makes invaluable contribution to disaster management as they facilitate the prediction, detection, and alerting through the coordinated and effective use of the radio-frequency spectrum and the establishment of radio standards and guidelines concerning the usage of radiocommunication systems.

Technical Standards for emergency communication:
As said by him, ITU’s telecommunication technical standards also play a strategic role in ensuring global interconnection and interoperability of telecommunications networks for monitoring and management at the onset and during emergency and disaster situations.

“A number of recommendations have been developed for call priority schemes that ensure that relief workers can get communication lines when they need to, whether using traditional or next generation communications networks,” he revealed, stressing that complementary to providing call priority during emergencies, the ability to deliver warnings to users, and standards are fundamental to ensure that warnings are timely delivered uncorrupted from the source to the end users – no matter how they could be reached.

He explained that the development arm of the ITU considers emergency telecommunications as an integral part of its development agenda; hence, a lot of effort is directed at mainstreaming disaster management in telecommunications using information and communication technology projects and activities as part of disaster preparedness.

“This includes infrastructure development and the establishment of enabling policy, legal and regulatory frameworks. In the immediate aftermath of disasters, ITU deploys temporary telecommunications/ICT solutions to assist countries affected by disasters,” he said, underscoring that these include provision of basic telecommunications and telemedicine applications via satellites.

Reconstruction and rehabilitation of telecommunications/ICT networks, Toure said, is an important part of disaster management and by providing assistance for disaster relief and response, ITU undertakes assessment missions to affected countries aimed at determining the magnitude of damages to the network through the use of geographical information systems.

A vote for Haiti:
On the basis of the findings, he continued, ITU and the host country embark on the resuscitation of the infrastructure while ensuring that disaster resilient features are integrated to reduce network vulnerability in the event of disasters striking in the future.

The Japan intervention by ITU is not the first, having taken a similar step in early 2010 after the Haiti earthquake struck on January 12 with the voting of over $1m USD, about N151,646,794.97 to strengthen the disaster response efforts in Haiti.

According to the chief media relations and public information, Mr. Sanjay Acharya and chief of division, Emergency Telecommunications, Mr. Cosmas Zavazava, both of ITU an estimated 40 satellite terminals were being deployed soon after the disaster to re-establish basic communication links and a further 60 units with broadband facility were to be dispatched along with experts to operate them.

The duo disclosed in a joint press statement made available to ITRealms Online that ITU had set up a Qualcomm Deployable Base Stations (QDBS) known for its reliability, responsive and complete cellular system designed to enable vital wireless communications aimed at strengthening response and recovery mechanisms in a disaster zone.

Dr. Toure was quoted as asserting that the world was shocked following the devastation and untold misery caused by the earthquake in Haiti and promised that ITU would do everything possible to provide assistance to the people of Haiti by re-establishing telecommunication links, which is key to vital to rescue and rehabilitation efforts.

Upholding the Tampere Convention:
What the above means is that ITU is living up to the Tampere Convention of the United Nations, which notes that when disaster strikes communications links are often disrupted. But for disaster relief workers these links are essential to answer critical questions such as how many people have been injured or died, where they are located and the medical help needed.

“Even though telecommunications can save lives in disaster situations, regulatory barriers can make it difficult to use the necessary equipment,” he noted, adding that ITU was a driving force in drafting and promoting the Tampere Convention.

ITRealms Online recalls that Tampere Convention allows relief workers to make full use of life-saving communication tools; it also calls on States to waive regulatory barriers that impede the use of telecommunications, which ordinarily comprise licensing requirements to use frequencies, restrictions on importing equipment and limits on the movement of humanitarian teams.

So, it is very crucial for states to understand this fact and make every arrangement possible in preserving telecommunications infrastructure within their vicinities, because this could help immensely in the event of any emergency before international aid like that of ITU even get near.

Therefore, any collaboration with the national regulators of telecommunications like the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in this regard as well as the telecom operators must be fanned and encouraged, rather than vandalizing such infrastructure for self-aggrandizement.

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Nigeria ranks 5th on Facebook usage in Africa

One of the leading provider of 4G wireless broadband services in the country, Swift Networks has introduced free modem swap promotion to customers on the network, just as it plans to expand network capacity to 1000 per cent before December 2011.

The promotion which gives customers the opportunity to exchange their existing modems for the recently launched Swift 4G broadband communication hub at no extra cost is open to customers from other networks.

Chief Operating Officer of Swift Networks, Mr. Chuma Okoye said at the weekend that this promo has been designed to enable intending customers experience internet at the fastest speed allowed by today’s wireless broadband technology through the exchange of their modems from other telecoms operator for the free Swift 4G broadband communication hub.

He also said that this arrangement eliminates the cost for modems and is in response to the avalanche of enquiries from intending customers.

“The high demand from prospective customers who want to switch to our 4G network and the response from our current customers who have experienced the free modem swap has been impressive,” he said.

Okoye described this as an indication that Swift is achieving its core business strategy which speaks to optimal customer satisfaction and service delivery.

He pointed out that Swift Networks having increased its network capacity by 600 per cent recently, they have decided to accommodate customers from other networks without any adverse effect on their network quality.

“This is part of our planned network capacity increase of 1000 per cent expected by the fourth quarter of 2011, and for which good progress is being made,” he said.

The Swift COO explained that the swap exercise will however, be done on a first come first served basis.

“We are mindful of our network quality and will do anything to preserve it,” he assured.

Okoye underscored the fact that during this promo, Swift Networks would accept fixed wireless and Universal Serial Bus (USB) modems of other networks in exchange for its 4G communications hub, which includes a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) router and 2 voice/fax ports.

These modems, he said, must be in good working condition and have had bills paid on them in the preceding 3 months.

“It is expected that a lot of small and medium enterprises, as well as homes will benefit from this programme,” he said.

He stressed that prospective customers may visit their customer service centres in Victoria Island, Ikeja and Surulere to take part in the swap promo or may call their customer care number which is available at their website.

ITRealms Online recalls that Swift Networks Limited is the first and leading provider of commercial 4G wireless broadband services to enterprise and consumer customers in Nigeria.

As at last month, March 2011, Swift’s 4G broadband network covers Lagos State where about 10 million people live and work.

The company plans to continue to expand its 4G coverage in Lagos and other cities. Swift’s all-IP 4th Generation (4G) wireless broadband network is at last solving the speed “pain” of internet users in covered areas. Strategic investors in Swift include The Candel Company Limited and African Capital Alliance together with 20 others.

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Effective e-Strategies top agenda @ NITPPF’11

The Information Technology (Industry) Association of Nigeria (ITAN) has advanced plans for the 4th National Information Technology Public Private Forum (NITPPF), scheduled to hold in Benin, Edo State in June this year.

The event with theme Effective eStrategies: Path to a Digital Nigeria, is the premier event for IT public sector administrators, professionals, business leaders, high level public officials and opinion leaders from across the country assemble to share and build a vision of a connected knowledge base with access for all.

ITAN president, Dr. Jimson Olufuye said at the weekend that this is one of ITAN’’s contributions to the realisation by Nigeria of the goals of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) which held between 2003 and 2005 as well as towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

He said that ITAN is collaborating the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA), the Government of Edo State, National Office for Technology Assessment and Promotion (NOTAP), Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Computer Professionals’’ (Registration Council) of Nigeria (CPN), Galaxy Backbone Plc, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), First Bank Plc, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), and the World Bank among others on NITPPF.

He also said that the three-day event has been scheduled to hold between June 22 and 24, 2011 in Benin City, Edo State.

ITAN, he said, plans to use two days, namely June 22 and 24 for quality awareness and improvement workshop for delegates from states IT Directorate and CEOs ITAN member companies in good standing.

“The objective of the NITPPF is to create a platform for synergy and collaboration among key Public and Private Sectors ICT administrators and leaders for accelerated application of ICTs for seamless Government to Citizen (G2C) and Citizen to Government (C2G) constitutional interactions; and for general economic growth and development within the states and across Nigeria as a whole,” he said.

Olufuye further said that the workshops, would be conducted by Messrs QAI Global, a global people-process-technology company specializing in building nations of ICT excellence viz organization capability; talent/ education; government; infrastructure; policy, among others.

Olufuye, who also is the Vice Chairman, WITSA for Africa noted that over 70 per cent, that is 28 of the 36 states in Nigeria are grappling with decreasing revenue from Federal allocation and at the same time increasing cost of overheads, wages and emoluments with little or no fund for capital projects that could benefit the people.

The states, he said are losing important revenue due to loopholes and inefficient collection of internal revenue, adding that using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to make government work better and smarter is the necessary pathway to prosperity and to a digital Nigeria.

“As no such forum exists to fill the gaps except NITPPF, it is therefore imperative to fast-tracking ICT application for e-Government across the 36 states of Nigeria, plus Abuja, through ample sharing of best practices,” he asserted.

Equally speaking, the Executive Director, Directorate of ICT, Edo State, Mrs. Olayemi Keri, expressed excitement on the opportunity for the state to host ITAN’s 4th edition of the National IT Public Private Forum.

“We believe it would add value to our IT developmental goals in Edo State” said Mrs. Olayemi Keri, Executive Director, Directorate of ICT, Edo State” she said.

ITAN further said, the opening ceremony has been scheduled for the second day, Thursday June 23, 2011 to be followed by panel discussions on eGovernment and Quality of Service, eLearning and Broadband Imperatives, in addition to issues on Internet for Development (I4D).

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‘Ericsson’s solutions for energy, social challenges’

The latest annual Ericsson’s report on Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility has revealed that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has the potentials for solving the energy, environmental and social challenges of any society.

Omasan Ogisi, Media and Public Relations Manager, LM Ericsson Nigeria, said that the report showed that ICT as a catalyst for more sustainable development could be used to focus on delivering transformative solutions for the networked society

According to her, Ericsson believes that the transformational power of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) could spur socio-economic development and put end-users on the path of a low-carbon economy which has never been greater.

She quoted the Ericsson President and CEO, Mr. Hans Vestberg as noting that ICT is a catalyst for more sustainable development.

“We have only begun to tap the possibilities of the Networked Society,” he said, stressing that the annual Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility report titled “Technology for Good” released last weekend.

He highlighted that the company’s ongoing efforts to apply innovation to market based solutions that empower people and society as well as helping to create a more sustainable world.

Ericsson, Vestberg added, has continued to be a global advocate for the transformational power of ICT solutions to solve global energy, environmental and social challenges.

Equally speaking, the Vice President for Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility, Elaine Weidman-Grunewald, said that the Networked Society brings many opportunities and challenges.

“Wherever and however we work, we want to ensure that we are a force for good, and that our technology contributes to making the world a better place,” Elaine said.

Some of Ericsson’s focus areas and initiatives highlighted in the report comprised of Low-carbon economy in order to achieve a low-carbon economy.

Jang said that Ericsson’s aim is to continue delivering solutions that will result not in incremental but rather transformative change: where video conferencing substitutes business air travel, intelligent utility grids reinvent how we access and use energy, and cities are designed to be low-carbon.

He disclosed that the ambition of the Stockholm Royal Seaport project is to reach CO2 emissions per inhabitant of 1.5 tonnes per year by 2020, comparing that to current average emissions of 5.6 tonnes in Sweden and 19.7 tonnes in the United States.

“Broadband will be a key enabler to reaching this goal,” he declared.

As data traffic grows, he emphasised that the ICT industry needs to increase network energy efficiency to reduce its contribution to global CO2 emissions.

“Absolute energy consumption is expected to increase over the next ten years, primarily due to adding approximately three times the number of subscribers and about a thousand fold increases in data growth,” he said.

Emphasising, however, that Ericsson research indicated that network energy consumption is not on the same growth path as the increase in volume of traffic.

“Instead, there has been an impressive decrease of energy needed to produce the data traffic (kWh/GB), due to technology and product improvements, in combination with increasing data rates of 3G/WCDMA technologies,” he said.

Noting for instance, that in Sweden, Ericsson have seen a 90-fold decrease in energy consumption per amount of data (in kWh/GB) over just four years (2006-2010).

“Reducing our own environmental impact and that of our products is an important part of Ericsson’s sustainability focus. Ericsson is on track with the Group target to reduce its carbon footprint by 40 per cent over five years (2009-2013),” he submitted.

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NCC, ICT Alliance to celebrate a decade of GSM

The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) in association with the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Publishers Alliance are putting plans in place for the hosting of the ‘A Decade of GSM’ forum in Lagos.

The event slated for August 2011, according to the lead organizer, Mr. Aaron Ukodie will x-ray how the entry of the global system for mobile (GSM) 10 years ago has helped to rev up the economy of Africa’s most populous country of 150 million people, Nigeria.

He also said that the Nigeria’s much touted mobile telecommunication revolution started 10 years ago on a positive process which has impacted in virtually all sectors of the economy including the financial, oil & gas, health and education sectors among others.

As said by him at the weekend, active players in the market of nearly 90 million subscribers comprise MTN Nigeria, Bharti Airtel Nigeria, Globacom Nigeria and Etisalat Nigeria.

He cited the 2010 findings by the London based Pyramid Research, the annual revenue from mobile services represents about 4 per cent of the Nigeria’s nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while that of many African countries is between 2 per cent and 7 per cent.

This, Ukodie noted indicates a rising influence of the telecom sector in the overall performance of the Nigeria’s economy.

“Apart from leading the continent, Nigeria is one of the world’s most outstanding successes in terms of uptake of mobile telephony since the service was first launched in August 2001,’ he said.

Ukodie further said that the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, would be one of the chief speakers at the 10th Anniversary GSM Forum, who had earlier described GSM revolution as one of the most outstanding landmarks of the country’s political democratization and the consequent shift to economic liberalization.

Juwah was quoted as saying “With only about 400,000 lines in 2001, with a dismal 0.4 teledensity, the number of active lines by end of January 2011 stood at 89.8 million lines, resulting in an impressive teledensity of 64.16. In terms of growth, Nigeria is ranked the largest and fastest growing telecom market in Africa and among the ten fastest telecom growth markets in the world, an indication of its robustness to return on investments.

“From a private sector investment of about US$50 Million in 1999 when the current democratic regime came in place, the telecom industry in Nigeria has by end of 2009, attracted more than US$18 Billion in private sector investments, including Direct Foreign Investment. More than N300 Billion has been contributed to the coffers of the federal Government through Frequency Spectrum sales, enabling government to plough back revenues earned from the sector for provision of development infrastructure at the various levels of government,” said Juwah.

The ICT Publishers Alliance consists of the premier media organisations focusing exclusively on the ICT sector including eWorld, CommunicationsWeek, IT Edge News.Com, IT World, and eBusiness Life.

The spokesman of the Alliance noted that series of activities have been lined up for ‘A Decade of GSM Forum’ and designed partnership with other stakeholders to commemorate one of the major highlights of technological transformation that has re-shaped most of Nigeria and Africa’s economies for good.

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Etisalat’s Easy Cliq gets better – Ammar

Etisalat Nigeria has said that its Easy Cliq package has become bigger and better with a reloaded package.

Chief Commercial Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Wael Ammar said that an enhanced package of Easy cliq package comes with the key benefits usable across the entire Etisalat network.

“With the new easy cliq, subscribers can now make calls to all Etisalat lines at 20k per second on Cliq 4d day for an opt in fee of N5; as against the initial 25k/sec rate. This creates more opportunities to talk to friends and families on the Etisalat network, making the easy cliq community even bigger and better,” he said.

Ammar also said the new easy cliq package comprises Free Unlimited Short Messaging Service (SMS) to all subscribers on the Etisalat network.

He explained that for every billed SMS, subscribers could get one SMS free which they could use across the network.

In addition to this, he said, Easy Cliq subscribers could now make free midnight calls to all Etisalat subscribers between the hours of 12:30 am and 4:30 am when they recharge a minimum N100 weekly.

Ammar explained that the need to enrich customers propelled Etisalat to reload its Easy Cliq.

“The enhanced Easy Cliq is a demonstration of our commitment to providing superior products and services that enable our customers maximise the benefits of being on a network reputable for innovation and world-class service,” he said, stressing that Easy Cliq is refreshed to offer maximum benefits and exciting communications experience for the youth who form an essential part of the subscriber base.

According to him, the Easy Cliq package was designed for the average Nigerian youth who wants to keep valuable relationships on the front burner, and has been in existence since May 2009.

“It includes interactive and exciting features such as: FREE 15 MB Data and 10 FREE MMS weekly at a recharge of N200, Free Unlimited SMS, Free Midnight calls, Bonus on Incoming Calls which automatically gives subscribers one minute of free airtime for every three minutes received from other networks, for use within the cliq, Cliq Ring Back Tune, SMS/MMS to Facebook update service and One Cliq One Tune,” he said.

Ammar said that for subscribers to benefit from this tariff proposition, Etisalat customers need to subscribe to Cliq 4d day by dialing *330*1# or by sending ‘ON’ to 330.

“The subscriber then receives a notification confirming the success or failure of the subscription. Confirmation of opt-in plan can be achieved by dialing *330# OR by sending ‘Help’ to 330,” he said.

ITRealms Online recalls that Etisalat is the largest provider of telecommunications services in Africa, Middle East and Asia serving an ever increasing subscriber base of 110 million people.

The acclaimed innovative GSM provider currently has unique products such as Easy Starter, Easy Cliq, Elite World and Easy Net in the Nigerian market. All offer a wide array of creative and exciting features designed to satisfy all communications needs of its subscribers.

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Momentum gathers for Africa IGF

Africa Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF) has continued to gain momentum with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) backing the process slated for Nairobi in September, this year.

Disclosing this, the chair of the AfIGF Consortium, Ms Nnenna Nwakanma said at the just concluded Internet Governance workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that UNECA has endorsed the forum.

She noted that the sixth global Internet Governance Forum in Nairobi in September 2011 will play host to AfIGF, the first joint action of many African initiatives on Internet Governance.

“Actors from all the sub-regions of the continent will be deciding on concrete steps and objectives of the newly announced Africa Internet Governance Forum,” she said.

Nwakanma also said that it was an idea whose time has come.

She noted that regional initiatives in East and West Africa are already in their fourth year, the Central Africa Internet Governance Forum in its third year and the South Africa Internet Governance Forum kicked off since 2010.

“Word has been going around about the AfIGF for some time now, but it was only during the Diplo Internet Governance and ICT Policy workshop which was co-organised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in early April 2011 that the AFIGF was finally born,” she said.

According to her, expectations are high on all sides and hopes are up on the fresh breath that AfIGF will infuse into sub-regional, and especially national, on-going activities.

“Africans from Cape to Cairo, Dakar to Djibouti, and throughout the diaspora have started pooling ideas, on how AfIGF will best serve the continent,” she said.

Nwakanma further said that this is a great time for Africa to take stock, to plan together and to strategize.

Meanwhile, Kenya reaffirmed its readiness to welcome the global Internet community to her city of Nairobi.

Speaking at the recently ended 40th public meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names Authority (ICANN), in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, United States, the Chairman, Communications Commission of Kenya, Mr. Phillip Okundi, gave the commitment if Kenyan government to the sixth IGF.

The prayer of Kenyans, he said, is that the IGF 2011 must be a success as it’s the first to be held after the global extension of IGF platform for another five years.

“It would succeed and it’s the first session after the extension of the second phase of IGF was agreed,” he said.

Okundi noted that Kenyans are known for their hospitality and promised participants in the IGF 2011 of a good hospitality

“Come and participate,” he declared, even as he noted that in Kenya, plans are up to have the East African community behind the hosting right as well as the business community.

Also speaking at the session presided over by Mr. Bill Grahams, senior official of the Communications Commission of Kenya, Ms Alice Munyua said that the date for 2011 IGF in Kenya has been scheduled for September 27 through 30 at the United Nations conference centre.

This, she said, was to assured of the smooth hosting and worthy of the nation’s image as well as the continent.

Kenya, has been encouraging to organize IGF preparatory meetings in East African countries and this year, it would include the youths.

She also said that there would also be a session for the legislators with the youths as part of mentorship initiative and to ensure that legislators are carried along.

She noted that IGF meeting in Nairobi would dwell on the Internet as agent for change, access, security and development theme for IGF 2011.

Introducing the session earlier, the chairman, Mr. Grahams said that the session is a continuation of Internet governance dialogue at ICANN meetings and an opportunity to update ICANN stakeholders on what is going on at the IGF, as well as to hear their views on relevant subject matters.

ITRealms Online noted that by the time this session was held Monday the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) Working Group on IGF improvements had started its work.

Remmy Nweke:
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Aviat teams up with Symmetricom on microwave backhaul

Aviat Networks, a leader in wireless transmission solutions, has teamed up with Symmetricom, Inc, SyncWorld Ecosystem Programme to deliver tested solutions for mobile backhaul synchronization over packet microwave networks, reports CHARLES OKOH.

The collaborating with Symmetricom, it is expected, would strengthen Aviat Networks’ solution portfolio for IP network migration by adding IEEE 1588v2 synchronization capability, which enables the smooth introduction of 4G/LTE. This solution capability is in addition to Synchronous Ethernet (SyncE), which was added to Aviat’s Eclipse platform in late 2010.

Vice president of marketing at Symmetricom, Manish Gupta said as networks migrate to Ethernet backhaul for LTE deployments, Symmetricom is committed to developing industry-leading carrier grade timing and synchronization solutions that ensure a smoother transition to packet based services.

“We’re delighted to have Aviat Networks join the SyncWorld Ecosystem Program and look forward to further collaboration,” he said.

Symmetricom also disclosed the launch of its SyncWorld Ecosystem Programme to support precise timing and synchronization requirements for 4G/LTE deployments that ensure seamless integration for service provider networks. The SyncWorld Ecosystem Programme represents all elements of the mobile value chain from embedded to network equipment manufacturers.

Senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Aviat Networks, Shaun McFall, said “Our relationship with Symmetricom enriches the solution options available to our customers globally, allowing Aviat Networks to combine a mix of superior wireless and timing technologies with professional support services and end-to-end management to deliver a cost-effective and versatile backhaul solution.”

While praising the collaboration, the country manager of Aviat Networks Nigeria Olawale Osimosu, restated the commitment of the wireless solutions provider to advance the penetration of 4G/LTE telecommunications networks in Nigeria as the fastest growing telecommunications market in the world.

According to Mr. Osimosu, “The success that resulted from the collaboration between Aviat Networks and SyncWorld provides assurance to mobile operators even in Nigeria, which are currently deploying or planning to deploy IEEE 1588v2 timing over packet microwave”. He expressed confidence that Aviat Networks Nigeria has the technical capability to support the local telecommunications industry.

Maintaining accurate timing and synchronization in mobile networks is critical for successful call “hand off” when mobile users are traveling between cell sites and to ensure overall voice quality and performance is maintained. As mobile operators migrate their backhaul networks to Ethernet to efficiently handle the vast amounts of growing data and video traffic, a reliable method of maintaining synchronization over packet network is required. Precision Time Protocol, standardized as IEEE 1588v2, has become the de facto standard for packet timing.

Aviat Networks and Symmetricom jointly completed extensive performance and interoperability tests to verify the performance of 1588v2 timing over various complex microwave backhaul network configurations under real-world deployment scenarios, including a 10-hop microwave backhaul network supporting Adaptive Coding and Modulation (ACM).

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Nokia Siemens appoints Amiram lead Business Solutions

Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has appointed Amiram Mel as head of Business Solutions. Mel, who will assume duties June 1, 2011, is expected to join the company’s executive board, reports CHARLES OKOH.

Business Solutions is one of Nokia Siemens Networks’ three business divisions alongside Network Systems and Global Services.

Chief executive officer of Nokia Siemens Networks, said Rajeev Suri, said Mel brings a strong track record of delivering growth and profitability.

“His deep experience in driving software and services businesses is ideally suited to ensuring that our Business Solutions organization reaches its full potential and delivers on our vision of the individual communication experience,” he said.

Mel’s career spans telecoms, information technology and academia. The majority of his career has been spent at Amdocs where he held a number of executive positions in research and development (R&D), product management, sales, services and regional business leadership. In those roles, his accomplishments included building a significant outsourcing business, transforming the billing organization, improving the efficiency and quality of Amdocs’ global software development centres and developing strong relationships with major global customers.

Mel’s last role at Amdocs was president, North America, a position he held for approximately five years. He joins Nokia Siemens Networks from Logic Systems where, in his role as chief executive officer, he led a team that more than doubled sales since 2008.

Mel will be based in the UK at the company’s Southwood office.

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Nigeria surpasses South Africa as Africa’s biggest user of Opera Mini

Remmy Nweke

The Norway-based software company Opera has proclaimed that Nigeria has surpassed South Africa as the biggest continental user of Opera Mini, a mobile browser application.

Communications Manager, Opera Software, Zara Lauder, made this revelation on Tuesday, saying that Nigeria has literally unseated South Africa as the country in Africa with the highest number of users on the Opera Mini mobile browser.

According to the latest State of the Mobile Web report issued by Opera Software, Tuesday and made available to ITRealms Online, Nigeria also brushed aside China and South Africa to finish the month of March as the fifth country globally for unique monthly users of Opera Mini, rising from its February position as the seventh.

“Now only Russia, Indonesia, India and Ukraine are ahead of Nigeria in terms of unique monthly users,” Lauder disclosed in the report.

As said by Lauder, hitherto, South Africa has maintained the top spot in Africa and consistently held sixth place globally for the highest number of Opera Mini users, in all but five months since the State of the Mobile Web reports began in April 2008.

Nigeria, the Communications Manager said, debuted in the top 10 list in March 2009 but has been less stable in its position, sometimes dropping off the list entirely.

“Despite earlier jumpy trends, Nigeria has shown a steady climb in the list of top Opera Mini user countries since September 2010: spending two months each at the ninth, eighth and seventh spots before rising in March to fifth – pushing back South Africa to seventh place,” Lauder said.

Pointing out that as at March 2011, Nigeria experienced 143.5 per cent growth in the number of unique Opera Mini users, compared to 67 per cent growth in South Africa.

Lauder explained that during the same period, South Africa showed higher growth in the number of monthly page views and data transfer, accounting to 99.5 per cent and 95.5 per cent and when compared to the Nigeria’s 87.7 per cent and 80.0 per cent in that order.

Excited co-founder, Opera Software, Jon von Tetzchner, said that Nigeria is a country to watch in terms of mobile intake.

“It will be very interesting to see whether its stint as the top African country for Opera Mini turns out to be one-off result or the beginning of a long-term trend for mobile browsing in Africa,” he said.

Opera is the most popular mobile browser in both South Africa and Nigeria, with StatCounter’s March results showing Opera to have 67.5 per cent share of the mobile browser market in South Africa and 87.7 per cent in Nigeria.

“Opera has 71.8 per cent market share for mobile browsing in all of Africa,” he submitted.

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NEPAD, Spain set up fund for African women

Remmy Nweke

In order to accelerate the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially the number three goal, the NEPAD Agency and Spanish government have set up fund for the empowerment of African women for the second time.

The fund, estimated at take a queue from the first phase of 6.285 million Euros, about N1,394,331,164.08 billion, would be the second call to be deployed in building the capacity of African women thereby encouraging them to be economically self reliance.

ITRealms Online recalls that in 2008, NEPAD had launched the first call for proposals, during which the NSF Steering Committee approved 46 projects from 23 African countries with funding to the tune of 6.285 million Euros.

Communications Assistant at NEPAD Agency, Millicent Seganoe disclosed that at the just concluded 6th meeting of “African and Spanish Women Network for a Better World” held in Windhoek, Namibia, the NEPAD Agency and the Government of the Kingdom of Spain launched the second call of proposals for the NEPAD/Spanish Fund for the Empowerment of Women.

Seganoe explained that the NEPAD-Spanish Fund for the empowerment of women is aimed at providing financial support to projects carried out by women in Sub-Saharan Africa and concretely promoting gender equity and the autonomy of women, while increasing women ability to contribute in speed up the process to reach the Millennium Development Goal (MDG), especially goal number three.

The NEPAD Communications Assistant said that the grants would be awarded, ranging from 50,000 Euros to 500,000 Euros over a period of one year to two years or less.

Speaking at the launch on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Spain, Honorable Ms Soraya Rodriguez, Vice Minister in-charge of International Cooperation, welcomed the spirit of partnership that exists between her Government and NEPAD.

She also said that the Spanish Government has learnt a lot in working with the NEPAD Agency and that the renewal of the Spanish Fund “is a solution to the basic needs of the African women.”

The Chief Executive Officer, NEPAD Agency, Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, reiterated the significance of the gender dimension in the development strategy of the continent.

Welcoming the presence of Honourable Soraya Rodriguez, Mayaki said it shows a step forward in NEPAD interaction with the Kingdom of Span for strengthening of conditions for a dynamic partnership.

“It is in this regard that the lessons learnt during the previous phase would enable the Agency to conceive a result oriented management approach that will call for the definition of rigorous and pertinent criteria for the selection, the follow-up and the assessment of projects” he said.

Mayaki also recognised the strong support of the Spanish Cooperation to NEPAD, while promising that NEPAD Agency under his leadership would do its best to be as more efficient as possible in the implementation of the NEPAD/Spanish Fund for the empowerment of African Women.

“I would like to recall, aims at promoting the economic autonomy and the institutional capacity building of African Women” he declared.

Noteworthy is that out of the 46 projects in the first phase, 25 have been concluded and the remaining projects are on-going.

NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NEPAD Agency) is the technical body of the African Union, working closely with the African Union Commission (AUC), regional economic communities, national governments, civil society and the private sector to push for programmes and projects that focus on improving the lives of the African people.

The NEPAD Agency is the leading African development expert, able to mobilise the private sector, heads of state and African people as a force for positive change, building continental prosperity and regional integration.

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Former minister, Ige to preside Nigeria IPV6 Roundtable’11

The Chairman Board of Trustees (BOT) of the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Chief Olawale Ige will on June 8, this year preside over the first of its kind, the Nigeria Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPV6) Roundtable to be hosted by DigitalSENSE Africa in Lagos.

According to the Executive Director, DigitalSENSE Africa, Mrs. Nkemdilim Nweke, the one-day roundtable for stakeholders of the Nigerian Internet community will be held at the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) Lagos campus located at the former NITEL Training School Cappa-Oshodi.

She said that Chief Ige, a former Minister of Communications of repute, has confirmed his participation and readiness for the event.

She recalled that Chief Ige, a fellow of Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) was the Minister of Communication in 1990 and has been severally described as a Telecom Bridge Builder with over 35 years of working with both the private and public sectors in the country.

Also, Mrs. Nweke said that the former General Manager, Long Distance Communications at the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), before he rose to become a Special Adviser to the Honourable Minister of Communications; a position he held prior to his elevation to the Director General in the Ministry.

Ige’s appointment as the Minister of Communications in 1990 witnessed a numerous turnaround as the ministry was bloated to comprise Transport and Aviation.

In accepting to chair the Nigeria IPV6 Roundtable, Chief Ige said he is deeply honoured to preside over the roundtable to discuss issues bothering stakeholders on allocation and
deployment of IPV6 in the country.

He promised to participate fully at the event scheduled to in addition commemorate the World IPV6 Day and stimulate awareness on the subject, which has become of global interest.

“God helping me I promise to participate fully in the programme. Please accept the assurances of my esteem regards,” Ige said.

Speaking further, Mrs. Nweke said the planning for the Nigeria IPV6 Roundtable has reached advanced stage for the commemoration of the 2011 World Internet Protocol version Six (IPv6) Day in Lagos, on Wednesday June 8.

She said that her office is working out plans with interested stakeholders to register Nigeria’s presence as far as the World IPv6 Day is concerned on that date through sensitization.

She revealed that the event would be hosted under the auspices of Nigeria IPv6 Roundtable at the Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON) Centre Onikan-Lagos in June this year, with the theme: IPv6-Join The Players.

Presently, she noted that only 14 institutions have IPv6 in the country, describing this figure as dismal and needed a change of heart and boost from the regulatory agencies across the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and related regulators.

She equally noted that following the recent allocation of the last batch of the Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) addresses by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) the enthronement of IPv6 globally cannot be over-emphasised.

“It became imperative for the deployment of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) in all areas,” she asserted.

Mrs. Nweke pointed out that the Internet has since become the global communication network and to join this progression, Nigerian stakeholders need to integrate IPv6 in all areas.

This roundtable, she said, would help in achieving the national goals for universal access to telecommunications, information and communication technologies (ICTs).

Remmy Nweke:
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