Ghanaians yearn for Glo’s roll-out

•Plan 6-hr switch off protest tomorrow

Telecommunications subscribers and stakeholders in Ghana are yearning for the services of the Nigeria’s second national operator, Globacom, which obtained operational license in the country since 2008.

This is coming as Ghanaian subscribers are now warming up for a six-hour switch off of mobile phones to protest poor quality of service (QoS) tomorrow, countrywide, just as operators would lose an estimated $6 million, about N909m, owing to the demonstration.

Presently, out of the Nigeria-based three mobile telecom operators in the country that have licenses in Ghana, namely Glo, MTN, and Zain only Glo has not launched commercial services.

Some Ghanaian telecom stakeholders who spoke to ITRealms Online at the weekend in the city of Accra said that they are over-yearning for Globacom’s time to roll-out services.

They also acknowledged the fact that Glo 1 submarine cable landed in Accra, but wondered why the telecom operator has not deemed it fit to roll-out officially its services to benefit Ghana’s economy.

They expressed reservation over the delay in rolling out services by Globacom, close to two years after it obtained operational GSM license.

For a lady described as Ms Kathryn, who runs a travel agency, “As you can see, Glo symbols seem to be everywhere, mostly at the airport, but the company is yet to roll out.”

She pointed that Glo even has a very elaborate office bloc in the city, in addition to the cable that landed last year, yet, there is no service attached to it, as far as Ghanaians telecom consumers are concerned.

Another Ghanaian, a cab driver, Kwame, told ITRealms Online that every day they look forward to official roll-out of commercial services by Globacom, noting that long ago Globacom has decorated Kotoka International Airport, but to no avail as no one knows what exactly could be the company’s plans or problems.

“We are daily expecting to see their service and we are getting tired,” he declared, noting though that Glo service may not be very different from what is obtained now, but it could increase competition and then better services.

ITRealms Online recalls that during the week ending July 19, 2008, the National Communication Authority (NCA) of Ghana handed over a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) to the management of Globacom led by its Group Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Mohamed Jameel.

Speaking then at the brief ceremony at NCA headquarters in Accra, its Chairman, Mr. Jude Kofi Arthur, expressed optimism that the telecom giant would deliver on innovative products and urged the mobile company to always consider all stakeholders in the industry including the government, fellow operators, the regulator and the public in all its endeavours.

“On behalf of the government of Ghana and the NCA, I present to Glo, the license to operate mobile cellular service in Ghana. This is the end of the licensing process but the beginning of the relationship with Glo,” Arthur said.

Reacting, Mr. Jameel had expressed gratitude to the government and people of Ghana, and particularly the NCA, for having confidence in Glo Mobile’s ability to operate quality cellular mobile service. Just as he promised Globacom would not let them down.

“We’ll leave no stone unturned in our bid to provide world class and innovative telecommunication service for the people. We thank you for the transparent international bidding process,” he said.

Restating that Glo would not hesitate in its determination to execute the vision of the board to build Africa’s biggest and best telecommunication network, assuring that Glo “shall be a disciplined operator and we need the support of NCA.”

According to Jameel, Glo would cooperate with all the other operators, saying that the firm is challenged by the confidence the NCA and the public have reposed on them based on its continental pedigree.

“We wish to assure you that we shall, with your collective support and goodwill, meet your expectation and yearning for quality and affordable telecoms products and services,” he said.

He assured that based on the antecedent of Glo Mobile, both in Nigeria and Benin Republic, the network would deploy robust telecommunication infrastructure and services in Ghana with the government and people as the biggest beneficiaries.

By securing the GSM license in Ghana, Glo became the sixth mobile operator to be licensed in that country.

Although anticipation was that by April 2009, that is, over a year ago, the Ghana operation of Glo Mobile should have gone commercial.

Efforts to reach Glo’s spokesman, Mr. Bode Opesietan, was not successful as he could not respond to either calls, text message and email sent to him as at press time.

But a source close to Globacom, however, informed ITRealms Online that there are some issues challenges causing the delay, including getting permissions for right of way for erection of its masts and vandalization of infrastructure already on ground.

Meanwhile, the Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) of Ghana has announced its resolve to protest against all the telecommunications operators in the country over poor quality of service.


The protest being spearheaded by CPA has been scheduled to hold tomorrow, Thursday, May 27, this year, according to public announcement on the Ghana TV3 and Ghana News Agency (GNA), at the weekend.

The announcement quoted the Chief Executive Officer, CPA, Mr. Kofi Kapito as saying that the demonstration would also present a petition to the Minister of Communications, to express the discontentment of Ghanaians over the poor quality of services provided by telecom operators.

“The CPA is calling on Ghanaians to switch off their mobile phones from 6:00 am to 12:00 noon on May 27 as a protest to signal to the telecommunication companies that without consumers, they do not exist,” part of the statement read.

Further, it said that the ‘six-hour phone off’ protest, would cost the telecommunication companies about six million dollars which would enable them to respect the right of consumers.

Additionally, CPA said the physical demonstration would start from Kwame Nkumah Circle at 9 am and end at 2pm, through High Street, to Rawlings Park, Kojo Thompson road, Kinbu Lane to Ministry of Communications, and proceed through Osu and end at Danquah Circle after a press conference, even as the agency urged all telecom consumer in Ghana to heed the call.
“We invite all consumers to join the demonstration” part of the press statement read.

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ICT: Experts canvass practical liberalisation

A one-day workshop on impacts of liberalisation of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) trade services, was held in Lagos, recently. REMMY NWEKE who participated, reports on the need for African countries to enthrone policies that could engender economics beyond immediate shoreslines by walking the talk.

Despite the level of growth recorded in the past 10 years of the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), which invariably gave rise to the recognition of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, experts are of the opinion that more legal frameworks are needed to further strengthen the market.

This is mostly in the area of engendering liberalization of ICT beyond the shores of individual countries on the continent, particularly in West Africa where there are a mixture of both Anglophone and Francophone nations with seemingly language barrier.

These were some of the opinions highlighted at the recently held one-day workshop on ‘The impact of Liberalization on trade in ICT goods and services’ organized by the Faculty of Social sciences, University of Lagos and led by the trio of Prof. Tayo Fakiyesi of department of Economics, Prof. Ike Mowete of Engineering and Prof. Peter Fogam of department of commercial law, all of the University of Lagos (UNILAG); as part of efforts at disseminating their finds under LICOM’s Nigeria project.

The workshop, which witnessed a good number of stakeholders, mostly from the academia, saw experts urging telecommunication companies in the country to challenge the academia by endowing chairs on technological research across the nation’s higher institutions.

All those who presented papers during the workshop were of the opinions that the sector needs to be improved to fast track economic development of the nation towards stimulating means to encourage inter-country commerce.

Introducing the project in an overview, Prof. Mowete said that it was initiated by Dakar-based Panos Institute of West Africa (PIWA) under the sponsorship of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada, with focus on the impact of international liberalization of trade in ICT services, the implications of implementation for public policies in West Africa.

According to him, the studies on this project covered Benin, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal, noting that in Nigeria, a UNILAG team executed the project, which included three professors, stressing that the objectives of the scheme includes to contribute to a better and informed understanding of the challenges of liberalization of trade in ICT services in the sub-region.

The study, Mowete said, was situated within the framework of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) as basic policy implementation strategies. He also listed some specific objectives to include the identification and analyzing key legal provisions, deduce the perception of sector stakeholders about risks and challenges, characterize the ICT sector with particular reference to the services sub-sector, estimate the costs and assess the merits claimed by liberalization as well as recommendations and disseminate, accordingly.

Specifically, he said that four separate investigations were carried out beginning with a critique of the legal provisions as they concerned trade in ICT services, followed by a survey of ICT services sector in Lagos, which is the hub of ICT market in the country. This attempt came on the heels of the questionnaire survey to obtain perception of players and finally, a cost-benefit analysis.

He disclosed that the purpose of the workshop was to present the outcomes of the studies across the three professors covering the key three sectors to drive trade liberalization beyond any given shores, pointing out that Prof. Fogam would provide the legal provisions, himself would take on the characterization and perception, Prof. Fakiyesi would dwell on costs and benefits.

In his paper, Prof. Peter Fogam noted that despite the rapid development recorded in ICT in the country, the sector is still bedeviled with a high level of inconsistency on ICT policy. Underscoring the fact that total application of ICT in most developing countries are hindered by the lack of comprehensive legal and regulatory frame work. He said that, though, Nigeria has taken a bold leap forward by legal and regulatory measures on ground, but there is need to improve on it.

He also said that the ever changing nature of ICT industry is such that it’s difficult to imagine the challenges that these measures may face in future, therefore, much are yet to be done to meet these challenges.

“Nevertheless, what exist today by way of national communication policy and Communications Act 2003, underscores the facts that a sustainable ICT industry in Nigeria needs an environment of trust created through legal and regulatory apparatus,” he declared.

Fogam equally said that the opportunity brought about by ICT needs a strict legal and regulatory environment for proper coordination, noting that the present ICT status in the country, have been influenced by policies and statutes.

ICTs, the professor of law said, have led to the convergence between the media and the telecommunications in such a way that today, it is possible for one to read newspapers online and listen to radio stations across the globe from different websites through multimedia connectivity.

He stressed the importance of ICT in the affairs of any nation, saying that it cannot be overemphasized, because ICT enhances economic growth through competition, and consistently increases trades and investments. Maintaining that ICT enables the modernization of private sector through improved market access, sales, trade and facilitation of research and development, asserting, “ICT has a very broad range of application that span across various sectors of health, education, agriculture, e-government and e-economic.”

In his contribution at the workshop, an economist, Prof. Fakiyesi reflected on the fact that ICT in the country has raised the level of employment opportunities, but solicited for strict regulatory measures that would check some fraudulent practices associated with it.

According to him, the growth of ICT in the country has its negative effects, including the use of these technologies to commit crimes and fraudulent practices, warning that the negative side has assumed publicity because it has been exploited by some Nigerian youths.

However, against the aforementioned demerit, Fakiyesi said ICT sector has lifted the nation’s economy and there is need for stakeholders to work towards improving the sector for more financially viable growth and development, pointing out that “ICT has raised employment and investment in the country and it has come to stay. It has reduced cost of trade and increased productivity.”

The economist further decried that apart from the improvement on the economy, ICT has also enhanced falsehood, dissemination of harmful information, as well as fraudulent activities in the transaction of businesses.

ICT, he said accounts for about 1.62 per cent of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with over 50.90 per cent growth, just as ICT has substantially contributed to the nation’s growth, especially since 2000 when the sector was practically liberalized.

On the benefit drivable to Nigerians, Fakiyesi said that the increased development has to match with level of service provided, stressing that benefits outweigh demerits in terms of services, but services must improve.

Prof. Fakiyesi pointed out that why academic communities seem not to be involved in the research leading to ICT innovations was due to lack of professional endowed chair in the nation’s tertiary institutions by operators in the sector, which has not been helpful.

He decried the absence of political will by those in government to give the academia the opportunity to research on ICT, but prefer expatriates to supply all that is needed in the sector.

"The environment is not conducive, the political will has not given us the opportunity to work towards research, not that we cannot do good jobs but the political will is not there. The essence of this workshop is to create more ICT businesses in Nigeria and we’re ready to work towards the improvement of ICT sector,” he said.

Universities and some professionals, he said, needed to be consulted when policies on ICTs are being formulated, especially from the tertiary institutions, alleging that some of the people who are making policies on ICT today are not professionals.

And cited an instance with the United Kingdom and American telecommunication companies who go around the universities endowing chairs for research on how to improve their services, insisting that the network providers, should be able to identify their needs and get to the universities to research on these areas.

"In United Kingdom ICT companies go around to universities to establish chairs for research. MTN, Glo and Zain should come to us for research, they should tell us what they want and guide us on how they want it, we’re ready to do research, but these people are not ready to encourage research work in the country. The research should be under their guidance, and the findings should be theirs,’’ he said.

However, deductible from the above workshop is that there is still a long way to go, but if every other country in the sub-region could improve on their policies, definitely the economic activities in the region would increase to provide a better lifestyle to the populace, despite the negative aspects.

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Nwakanma retains seat @ FOSSFA till 2012

Nigerian-born Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) consultant based in Cote D’Ivoire, Ms Nnenna Nwakanma, has retained her seat to preside over the Free and Open Source Software Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) for the next two years.

Her election came unopposed at the just concluded five-day Idlelo 4 conference and Annual General Meeting (AGM) of FOSSFA, which held at the Kofi Annan Indian Centre of Excellence in ICT, Accra-Ghana, at the weekend.

Also elected in the new FOSSFA Executive Council following the nomination of 21 council members from all regions on the continent of Africa, who constituted the electoral-college for the Exco to emerge, based on the group’s constitution.

These include Gambian Katim Touray as vice chairman, while Egyptian Samer Azmy of Geek2Live was elected secretary general, and Ugandan Milton Aineruhanga emerged Treasurer.

Nwakanma, who is the chief executive officer of nnenna.org, is a reputed consultant on Africa with expertise in development and communications, leading a team of cutting edge specialists on ICT, rapporteurs, researchers, trainers and language facilitators among others.

She was nominated by a council member Mr. Fred and seconded by Mrs. Dorothy Gordon. She would lead FOSSFA till Idlelo 5 in 2012.

The council also agreed to amend its constitution, especially in increasing the number of the exco members to accommodate the post of assistant secretary general and publicity secretary in the next election.

FOSSFA has its origin in the ICT Policy and Civil Society workshop held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in November 2002, which was convened by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, on the mandate of the Bamako Bureau established by the African Council of ICT ministers in the continent’s preparation towards the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), where it was unanimously resolved to create an interim civil society task force on open source tagged “Open Source Task Force for Africa (OSTA).”

The task force has since transformed into FOSSFA with the consent of its members to advocate for the use and implementation of open source solutions at the regional, national and local levels; urge donor governments that have already embraced open source at national levels such as Germany, Sweden, Norway and France to support Africa in this regard.

In addition, FOSSFA has the mandate to create a clearinghouse or knowledge factory - resources, database of local expertise on ‘Who is doing What’, website, CD-ROM, brochures among others and then define minimum standards, guidelines and advisory parameters for the foundation; building localized cum African capacity to work on software development; ensuring a discourse on open source during the National Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI) policy processes and addendum for the NICI processes that have already been completed.

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Rotary Club commends Etisalat on ethics

Acclaimed most innovative mobile operator in the country, Etisalat, has been commended for promoting ethical standards in community service, business and the professions by the Rotary Club.

Making this commendation, recently was the Governor, Rotary Club international District 9110, Rotarian Emmanuel Tayo Alabi, at the club’s district conference sponsored by Etisalat in Abeokuta, Ogun state between the 12th and 15th of May.

Alabi noted that the 4-day event had been made possible through the support provided by the telecommunication company.

This partnership, he said, was brokered in recognition of Etisalat’s understanding of the objectives of Rotary on the heels of the club’s quest for a major sponsorship of the District 9110 conference in Abeokuta.

Corroborating this fact, the Governor, the Rotary Club conference chairperson, Rotarian Ibikunle Ogunbayo pointed out that Rotary values and what it stands for comprised integrity, high ethical standards, and service to humanity to name a few.

These values, Ogunbayo said, have been a major attraction to the telecoms giant.
“It is hoped that this partnership with Etisalat will go beyond Abeokuta 2010. The partnership will be of direct benefit to Rotary projects and will also provide some exclusive products to Rotarians and their families,” Ogunbayo said.

The Director Brands and Communications, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Yinka Akande, said that the telco and Rotary International share a lot of commonalities in values.

“By associating with the Rotary Club, we are telling Nigerians that we have a strong humanistic streak in our company DNA. We recognise Rotary as a body of business and professional leaders with the objectives of providing humanitarian services, encouraging high ethical standards and building goodwill and peace,” he said.

Emphasising that these are in perfect sync with what Etisalat represent and as a global leadership brand, believes that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) means creating sustainable value for the society through innovative and sustainable products and services, while minimising environmental impact as well as ensuring best ethical standards in dealing with our stakeholders.

Rotary International is the world’s first service club organization, with more than 1.2million members worldwide. The clubs works to combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, provide education and joint training, promote peace and eradicate polio, under the motto: service above self.

Currently standing at the 140th position among Financial Times’ top 500 corporations in the world, Etisalat is the largest provider of telecommunications services in Africa and the Middle East and serves an ever-increasing subscriber base of 100 million people across Africa, Middle East and Asia.

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Omatek offers special discount for Children’s Day

Omatek Computer plc, has announced a special discount for the 2010 Children’s Day celebration in the country, running for 27 days.

Disclosing this in Lagos, Tuesday, Head of Marketing, Omatek, Mr. Kayode Yeku, said that as a household name in computers and home entertainment products, the company introduced this discount in fulfillment of its promised to make this year’s Children’s Day celebrations a memorable one.

He also said that Omatek Computers is participating at the 2010 Splash For Joy Children’s Carnival, scheduled to kick-off at Parkview Estate, Ikoyi and terminates at the Cricket Pitch, Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos on Thursday, May 27, 2010.

Mr. Yeku, Omatek would be offering a special discount of 27 per cent, which would be applicable to all 8” and 10” smartbooks purchased within 27 days from May 27, 2010.

“All children who visit the Omatek stand during the carnival will also have the opportunity to benefit from a free computer training programme as well as a unique hands-on experience at the Omatek factory during long vacation,” he said.

According to him, the special Children’s Day offer is hinged on the firm’s e-learning platform which provides students with the opportunity to own their personal computers as a catch-them-young initiative to empower the youths.

He explained that the Omatek 8” and 10” smartbooks are specially designed for students and educational sector.

“They are portable and come in various attractive colours. They are equally equipped with robust Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) coverage of over 50 meters, 160 Gega Bytes (GB) hard disk space,1GB Random Access Memory (RAM), current Encarta package, Little Finger Educational Game and so on,” he declared.

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Coscharis partners Kobian on Mercury products

Coscharis Technologies Limited has been appointed by Kobian Pte Limited as the sole distributor of her mercury products in the country.

Disclosing this at the end of the 2010 Computer, Technology and Office Equipment exhibitions and conference in Lagos, the General Manager, Coscharis Technologies, Mr. George Opara said an exclusive agreement was signed by the representatives of both companies made up of himself and Director of Sales, Kobian Pte Limited, Mr. Sajid Shaikh on behalf of their respective organizations.

Opara also said that the signing of the deal was the climax of over 15 years of relationship between two companies on various brands of Mercury products.

Coscharis Technologies, he noted, started business with Kobian in order to develop the market resulting to the deal.

The exclusivity, he said, would be of greater advantage to customers and resellers of mercury products in the country, stressing that the huge branch network available to Coscharis Technologies would assist the company in making the Mercury products the choice nationwide.

Some of the products, he listed to include Mercury motherboard, casings, Uninterrupted power supply (UPS) of various specifications, keyboard and mouse, Mercury TFT Monitors of 15”, 17”, 19”, Mercury Scanners, Inverters of 1KVS, 2Kva, 3.5Kva, 5Kva, Mercury AVRs of various specs, Mercury online UPS, Counting Machines, Mercury Surveillance Cameras and Close Circuit Television.

Coscharis Technologies is also an authorized distributor for Microsoft, Lenovo, APC by Scheider Electric.

Expressing delight over the deal, Opara described it as a vote of confidence bestowed on Coscharis Technologies.

In his remarks, Mr. Shaikh said that his company’s 15-year relationship with Coscharis Technologies was based on trust and mutual respect, and challenged Coscharis Technologies’ team to strive in making the product a house hold name in the country.

Coscharis Technologies Limited, was incorporated in March, 1993 as an integrated Information Technology firm and has since grown into a significant member of the Coscharis Group, an indigenous conglomerate with a mission to become the leading player in the nation’s IT industry in the provision of a wide range of quality choices to network of dealers and resellers, offering unbeatable technical and financial support to them without compromising on quality of products and speed of delivery.

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MTN ends 21-day Y’ello care in style

LEADING Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications operator, MTN Nigeria, has ended its 21-day Y’ello care, last weekend, reports CHARLES OKOH.

The initiative saw about 1,379 MTN staff participating in over 60 activities aimed at touching lives of the less privileged and donating to public institutions.

Speaking during the commissioning of a renovated wing of the Military Hospital on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi-Lagos, the General Manager, Corporate Communications, MTN Nigeria, Mrs. Funmi Omogbenigun, said for four years now, MTN staff volunteers across the 21 operating units in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East used the platform to impact on the lives of the people in their immediate environments.

She also said that this year, efforts were directed at educating the people and galvanizing them to eradicate malaria and that the event presented a unique opportunity to rally against this mass killer of the people.

“It is estimated that one million people, about 90 per cent of whom are children, are killed by malaria every year. This explains why MTN has joined forces with two global campaigns; United Against Malaria and One Goal: Education for all, both of which aim to eradicate disease and poverty from Africa,” she said.

Welcoming participants, the Commanding Officer, Administration, Military Hospital, Ikoyi, Colonel Onaolapo Oladiran, said the initiative by MTN was worthy of emulation to inculcate the spirit of selfless giving and volunteerism.

“When we were notified of the intention of MTN staff to take up the renovation of a wing of this hospital, we did not quite know what to make of it, and even wondered if there would be any cost implications to the hospital. We feel blessed and we are very grateful that our great hospital was selected to be a beneficiary of this wonderful programme,” he said.

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Cloud computing saves money - ITU

The Director for Telecommunication Standardization Bureau at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Mr. Malcolm Johnson, has said that cloud computing saves costs for servers and storage.

He also said that cloud computing offers speed and streamlines application deployment without upfront capital, stressing that for this reason alone, many enterprises, governments and network cum service providers are now considering adaptation of cloud computing to provide more efficient and cost effective network services.

Mr. Johnson who spoke at the end of ITU-T Focus Group on Cloud Computing meeting in Geneva, last weekend, pointed out that cloud is an exciting area of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) where there are a lot of protocols to be designed and standards to be adopted to allow people to best manage their digital assets.

“Our new Focus Group aims to provide some much needed clarity in the area,” he said.
Commenting also, the Vice President, Research at Yankee Group, Camille Mendler, said that cloud computing deployments are being announced on an almost daily basis, pointing out that interoperability, is a challenge.

“Cloud computing is the future of ICTs. It’s urgent to address interoperability issues which could stall global diffusion of new services. Collaboration between private and public sectors is required, and ITU is ideally suited to facilitate productive dialogue,” Mendler said.

Chairman, ITU Focus Group on Cloud Computing, Vladimir Belenkovich, said that the group would investigate requirements for standardization in cloud computing and suggest future study paths for ITU.

“Specifically, we will identify potential impacts in standards development in other fields such as Next Generation Networks (NGN), transport layer technologies, ICTs and climate change, and media coding,” he said.

As outlined the first brief exploratory phase, he said, will determine standardization requirements and suggest how these may be addressed within ITU study groups and work will then begin on developing the standards necessary to support the global rollout of fully interoperable cloud computing solutions.

A recently published ITU-T Technology Watch Report titled ‘Distributed Computing: Utilities, Grids and Clouds’ describes the advent of clouds and grids, the applications they enable, and their potential impact on future standardization.

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Indian delegation for WAFRITEL

A delegation of Indian telecommunications companies are expected to grace the 10th West African International Telecommunications and Information Communications Technology exhibition (W.Afri.Tel 2010), which commences in Lagos on Tuesday, next week.
The delegation is coming under the auspices of Telecom Export Promotion Council (TEPC)of India, with the support of the Indian government.

Already, ITRealms Online, gathered that the delegation has secured prime spots at the three-day W.Afri.Tel exhibition at the New Eko Expo Hall, Eko Hotel, Victoria Island.

According to the organizers, a press statement from the Indian High Commission in the country and signed by the Head, Chancery, Mr. Raj Kumar, underscored the importance of the delegation’s visit which depicts Nigeria as high-profile in telecommunications market.

“We are pleased to inform you that Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council, Government of India will be bringing a high-level telecom trade delegation for exclusively promoting telecommunications and related services from India to Lagos from 1st to 3rd June, 2010,” he said, stressing that the delegation would be participating in the 10th West African International Telecommunications Exhibition and Conference.

“This delegation represents a very major area of focus of our bilateral trade and economic relations which will eventually lead to a mutual beneficial cooperation,” Mr. Kumar said.

Validating this development, the Editor-in-Chief of IT & Telecom Digest, sole Nigeria agent for the show, Mr. Mkpe Abang, said the delegation has since booked several a very impressive and sizeable space, which will serve as a pavilion specifically for their members to exhibit during the expo.

“I am pleased to confirm that the TEPC of India, has indeed booked a very impressive space to exhibit at this year’s W.Afri.Tel; and it is quite clear that the Indians mean business by making this visit at such an opportune moment, to exhibit in West Africa’s premier ICT show,” Abang declared.

Noting that this is coming at a time when Bharti recently consummated the deal to purchasing Zain’s Africa operations, of which Zain Nigeria is the largest of this operation, the Indian trade mission’s visit and exhibition at W.Afri.Tel 2010 is a clear demonstration and testimony to the fact that any investment made in the Nigerian telecom industry is high-income yielding both in the short and long term.


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ICANN invites comments on ‘Meetings for the Next Decade’

Global internet coordinating organisation, the Internet for Corporation and Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has announced the review of its ‘Meetings for the Next Decade’.

ICANN in a press statement made available to ITRealms Online, last weekend, said the time is right to look at the meetings ICANN holds each year from a holistic and truly bottom-up perspective, so as to ensure that such meetings optimally serve the community in the most cost-effective and stakeholder-focused ways possible.

For this reason, ICANN said it’s announcing the beginning of stage one of the “Meetings for the Next Decade” consultation process.

The consultation, ITRealms Online learnt would comprise a detailed survey in six languages, which would be made available online, as the exercise would last till July 5, 2010.

ICANN also advised respondents to send comments via the traditional email-based comment forum where they believe that the survey misses a point that could be important, or where they wish to convey the views of a group or organisation with respect to the questions the survey addresses.

“The survey does allow for a response to be made on behalf of an organisation, as well as by community members speaking in their individual capacity,” part of the statement read.

ITRealms Online recalled that the consultation is part of the programme of the ICANN board’s Public Participation Committee (PPC) and at the staff level is a joint effort of the ICANN meetings department and the Senior Director for Participation and Engagement.

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