" ITREALMS: 2013-05-19

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Airtel, Huawei partner Microsoft on Ascending W1 in Lagos



r-l Tony Liang of Huawei, Eniola Bello, Airtel Chief Sales officer,
Mark Ihimoyan, Consumer Director, Microsoft and Data Manager at Airtel, Mr. David.
One of the mobile network operators (MNO) in Nigeria making waves, Airtel, has partnered with Huawei, a mobile device manufacturer and Microsoft, the software giant by unveiling Huawei’s Ascending W1 smartphones in Lagos.
in his welcome remarks, the Chief Sales Officer for Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Eniola Bello, said that this partnership is coming at a right time when Airtel’s Internet service offering is on the fast lane of 3.75G and benefit from other goodies that Airtel has on the table for customers.

He urged Nigerians to take advantages of this partnership by buying this offer at any Airtel shops across the country.

Also speaking, the Managing Director, Terminal for West Africa at Huawei, Mr. Tony Liang, said that the Huawei Ascendi W1 was made for Africa as Windows Phone.

He pointed out that the smartphone was designed specifically for Africans, putting Africa at the centre ad connecting Africans to the people and the information that matter most to you.

“We know that access to technology will contribute to fueling Africa’s knowledge economy,” he said, even as Microsoft is bringing the Windows Phone 4Africa to the continent to empower 
Africans with best in-class technology at an affordable price point.

Mr. Liang was optimistic that Huawei Ascendi W1 would open new windows of opportunity for Africans, especially in Nigeria.
 
The Consumer Channels Group Director, Microsoft West Africa, Mr. Mark Ihimoyan, highlighted some of the features of Huawei Ascendi W1, describing it as a unique that was built in a way that no two phones home page is the same.

There are resizable tiles, in addition to the smartphone having features that enable it to updates frequently from social media and major media apps like CNN or ChannelsTV to name a few.
According to him, ‘People hub’ for instance, is a network of friends and families and which made the most social phone device around.
“Peoples hub actually connects all your social networks as an integrated solution, so the user don't have to miss any update,” he said.

Equally, Family Room, he said, is where users could invite up to 10 people close to them for a chat.

While the Kids corner on the Windows Phone enables owners who have kids to set it on a given mode in order to allow kids play with this phone based on the setting offered without much ado or getting worried over what they are doing with the phone, either deleting your contacts or sending a Short Messaging Service (SMS) to an angry boss.

“What makes this phone innovative as it is today is because it runs on Windows,” he said, adding that Windows phones have backup and restore mode as well as it has secure booting, which means that every application that could be downloaded on it is certified clean and secure by Microsoft before it could be downloaded.

“Microsoft App Store is not concerned about quantity, but quality,” he declared.
 


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Olu Akanmu, bows out of Airtel Nigeria as CMO



Olu Akanmi, former CMO Airtel resigned yesterday
The Chief Marketing Officer of Airtel Networks Limited, Mr. Olu Akanmu, has resigned his appointment with the company, to pursue other interests-with effect from Wednesday, May 22, 2013, after spending about a little above 11 months in office.

Confirming this to ITRealms, Vice President, Corporate Communications & Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Emeka Oparah, said that the resignation comes immediate effect.

He also noted that Mr. Akanmu led the marketing function at a crucial time in the life of Airtel.

“Mr. Akanmu … brought his over two decades of marketing experience and a rich knowledge of the telecommunications market to bear on his role as our CMO,” says Oparah. 

He then wished Akanmu the very best in his future endeavours, just as a replacement for the CMO will be announced shortly.

ITRealms recalls that Olu Akanmu joined Airtel Nigeria, effective, June 1, 2012.  

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DigitalSENSE News: Odusote to preside Nigeria IPV6 Roundtable 2013

DigitalSENSE News: Odusote to preside Nigeria IPV6 Roundtable 2013: Mrs. Odusote The first Internet amazon and former Admin Contact for the Nigeria’s country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD), .ng, Mrs... ... Making SENSE of digital revolution!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Qlichy.com goes Live in Lagos


Acclaimed Nigeria’s versatile business portal, Qlichy.com, has been unveiled in Lagos with a fanfare by The Quadrant Company (TQC).

This, the company said via a press statement made available to ITRealms that Qlichy.com is ready for business, and they have unleashed skaters on the streets of Lagos with stunts to excite, build awareness and inform Nigerians that Qlichy.com is out to change the course of business.

Managing Director of TQC, Mr. Bolaji Okusaga, said that Qlichy.com is a business portal that avails people of information on businesses and professionals while also helping to create a network of businesses online.

The portal delivers on news aggregation, content dissemination, networking services and provides a platform for e-commerce.

“Qlichy.com will help solve the problems of sourcing and disseminating information which businesses in Nigeria are facing today, thereby making doing business a lot easier in the country”.

According to Okusaga, the portal, Qlichy.com, will afford anyone looking for current information on businesses the chance of getting what she or he needs in one click.

“The portal also provides a cost effective way for businesses to expand their digital presence and reach more consumers, stakeholders and other businesses,” he said, stressing that Qlichy.com portal, equally serves as a platform for business and industry leaders to lead thoughts in their various sectors, public discussions on current issues and publicize news and events regarding their brands.

He further disclosed that signing-up with Qlichy.com enlists businesses at absolutely no cost thus increasing the numerous advantages the portal places at the disposal of Nigerian businesses and interested parties.
 

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Etisalat boost ABU Zaria with MSc in Telecoms Engineering


L-R: Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha;
Kaduna State Governor, His Excellency, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero,
and Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Steven Evans at the launch
of the Etisalat Telecommunications Engineering Programme (ETEP), Nigeria’s
first MSc course in telecommunications engineering at the Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria on Thursday, May 16
Telecommunications company, Etisalat Nigeria has given a boost to the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, by bankrolling the launch of the first Masters course in Telecommunications Engineering in the university.
The course to be known as Etisalat Telecommunications Engineering Programme (ETEP), according to the Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Steven Evans, who confirmed this to ITRealms is a corporate social responsibility initiative of Etisalat Nigeria in partnership with the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Etisalat Academy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Plymouth University in the UK and Huawei.
He explained that the programme was established at the Electrical and Computer Engineering department of ABU, one of five approved universities in Nigeria accredited to offer telecommunications engineering, but previously only at undergraduate level, with input from the National Office for Technology Acquisition & Promotion (NOTAP) as part of its oversight functions.
Also, Evans said the programme would annually empower 15 to 20 engineering graduates with capacity and expertise in excellently running Nigeria’s telecommunications sector. These post graduates, he said, would serve as possible manpower for Etisalat, Huawei and other such companies in the telecommunications industry.
L-R: Country Manager, Huawei, Mr. Jimmy Pang; Chief Executive Officer,
Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Steven Evans, and the Chief Technology Officer,
Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Gilles Kuntz at the ETEP launch
Chairman of Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Hakeem Belo-Osagie, said the MSc. course is aimed at contributing to local manpower with regards to telecommunications technology skills. “Telecommunications Engineers are involved in the planning, design, commissioning and monitoring of complex telecommunications networks, wireless systems, broadcasting systems and future broadband networks. We are delighted to champion this first of its kind project in order to promote the telecommunications industry which has been dubbed as the backbone of the new economy and plays a central role in facilitating reliable and fast information exchange,” he said.

ITRealms gathers that in attendance at the launch include the Kaduna State Governor, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, who represented the Vice President, Namadi Sambo; Vice Chancellor of ABU, Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha, top academic staff of the university, representatives from the Zazzau Emirate Councils, Directors and Board Members of Etisalat Nigeria, to name a few.

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