Lagos govt warns telcos on compliance

Remmy Nweke

THE Lagos State government has once again warned telecommunications operators over the laying of infrastructure, saying that compliance to the laws of the state, remain the only way for rewarding relationship between them.

“It is only this mutually rewarding relationship that would guarantee our pride of place as the beacon of excellence and the indisputable commercial nerve centre in the West African sub-region,” Governor Ahmed Bola Tinubu asserted.

He gave this warning at a one-day seminar on telecom investment and finance forum in Lagos, put together by the Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON).

In a goodwill message delivered at the occasion on Gov. Tinubu’s behalf by the Senior Special Assistant on the Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Ms Bola Banire, he implored all telecom operators in the state to ensure compliance with the laws of the government.

While promising the administration’s continuous support to provide the enabling environment for the sector, he also called on all genuine investors to take advantage of the opportunities that have been thrown up by the sector and leverage on the state government’s readiness to accommodate more investors.

He insisted that as law abiding citizens, Nigerians and investors alike should be ready to encourage investors and play according to the rules.

Further, Gov Tinubu congratulated ATCON for the forum, expressing the hope that the outcome would be of immense benefit to the entirety of Nigerians.

“I hope the ideas and opportunities that would be generated from this forum would be accessible not only to the members of ATCON and policy makers, but to all Nigerians who would find them useful,” Gov. Tinubu concluded.

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Nwaoshai lauds FG on power reform

Remmy Nweke

Managing Director, Power Systems Technology (PST) Limited, Mr. Emmanuel Nwaoshai, has lauded the federal government (FG) over the on-going power sector reform in the country.

Briefing journalists in Lagos, Mr. Nwaoshai, said the step by the government to reform the sector is laudable, because it would ignite other economic activities.

He also said his firm, would not only play an active role in the reform, but would be aligning its vision to that of the government.

“We would be playing in the distribution so as to reach the customers,” he said.

He indicated that his firm’s goal is to penetrate the public sector, although they have office in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and would soon be in Port Harcourt.

The power solution company which partners with MGE UPS Systems of France and WatFord Control Stabilizers from United Kingdom, among others, he said, provides uninterrupted power supply (UPS) solution to a number of leading firms in Nigeria, including MTN Nigeria Communications, Vmobile, Shell Petroleum and is partnering with Glo and Alcatel in a tripartite arrangement.

Mr. Nwaoshai further said that PST is a major distributor of MGE UPS systems and WatFord Control stabilisers in the country.

Noting that support service is essential in the delivery of power solution.

“What matters to our company is the support service and that’s the kind of service we want to emphasise,” he declared.

Assuring on PST commitment towards maintaining a 24 by 7 support for its customers at all levels, just as the reform would enable further penetration of ICTs nationwide.

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NIG website’ll be most visited soon – Ajayi

Remmy Nweke

FLAGSHIP of the nation in the cyberspace, the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG) has vowed to transform its newly relaunched www.nig.org.ng, the most visited website in the country in no distance future.

NIG president, Mr. Lanre Ajayi, gave this insight at the weekend while addressing committee chairmen’s forum of the group in Lagos, tasking them to streamline their programmes towards achieving this mileage with local content.

He said this was one of the reasons for reconstructing the website since he assumed office last December, in order to give it a face lift.

This, he also said, has been completed, up and running.

For instance, according to him, there would be a forum to enable members and visitors alike to raise pertinent issues of interest to them, which would be open for contribution.

Pointing out that currently people register online as guests on the website, in addition to having blogs and industry statistics to name a few.

He underscored the way visitors were flooding to the relaunched website, saying that it would soon be the most visited website in the country.

However, in order to further boost this desire, local content, he said, must be the tool of attraction.

Plans, he said, is underway to engage a full time Information expert with requisite knowledge to manage the website content and ensure it’s up-to-date, among others.

“It sounds amazing but if you know the number of Nigerians and foreigners out there searching for information on Nigeria, you would realize that local content is the king at this time of our development,” he affirmed.

Mr. Ajayi who doubles as the chief executive of an Internet Service company, PiNet Informatics, also enjoined the chairmen to also collaborate among themselves so as to share information that will benefit the teeming members of NIG eventually.

He pointed out, that in the past 11 years, NIG as a non-governmental organization (NGO) championed the penetration and adaptation of Internet in the lives of Nigerians.

“NIG has focused on access, now is the time to put content on these pipes locally,” he asserted.

Presently NIG has about 14 committees, which were inaugurated at the first quarter of this year.

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Transcorp, 18 banks route for Remita

Remmy Nweke

TRANSNATIONAL Corporation (Transcorp), the newly owners of the national carrier, Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), and 18 consolidated and recapitalised compliant banks, are currently deploying Remita, for salaries and pensions remittances.

Remita is a salaries and pensions remittances service delivered by Nigeria’s leading software house, SystemSpecs Limited.

The latest to join this fray of Remita enthusiasts is Transcorp, according to Managing Director, SystemSpecs, Mr. John Obaro, who disclosed this in a chat with selected media practitioners at the Executive Overview Training session on HumanManager, a human resource, payroll and pension management solution.

According to him, these organisations were responding to the recent federal executive council (FEC) directive that public and private sector in the country, should strive to search for local software solution that meet global standards before venturing to deploying foreign software.

He stressed that his firm’s HumanManager is a proven solution for payment solution, saying “It’s the only Nigerian software to be properly customised and has the capacity to handle all issues related to pension fund management.”

He revealed that in the last one month, SystemSpecs has made some in roads into corporations in the country, and the latest being the Transcorp deal, which he said, “we’re delighted about.”

In addition, 18 out of the 25 recently recapitalised and consolidating banks are now deploying one of its specialised pension and salaries service application, Remita, as a one stop solution.

While the General Agency Services (GAS), new owners of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NBA) and the three out of the four licensed Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), equally have chosen HumanManager.

He also said that SystemSpecs intends to market Remita aggressively, in the coming months, just as the firm’s customer relations portal, www.support.centa.com, has been concluded to avail customers the option of complaining where necessary whereas enabling the company to have some feed back, noting, it would be managed online.

He described Remita, as an electronic courier service that rides on secured electronic payment platforms to deliver funds to bank accounts and associated schedules to relevant bodies in pre-specified formats.

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IGF-06 gets final nod on dates, begins accreditation

Remmy Nweke

Following the end of a protracted meeting over the dates for the holding of the inaugural Internet Governance Forum (IGF-06) in Athens, Greece, final dates have now been announced.

This is coming as accreditation has commenced online for the forum.

The latest dates as announced is October 30 through November 2, 2006, therefore settling the dust over the exact dates which have been structure to ensure it did not coincide with any known major public anniversary.

This, according to the Greece Local Organising Committee (LOC), which is now ready to delve into more actions that would boost the hosting of the forum successfully.

The four-day forum is in line with the final commitment at the Tunis phase of the two-phased World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) last November.

It was initially slated for October 24, 25 and 26 as the best available dates which do not present a conflict for the organisation of the IGF meeting in Athens, as at first quarter of this year.

Official website of IGF in Greece, indicated that the resolution came after a long meeting between the LOC made up of Greece Transport and Communications and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and representative of the United Nations (UN) Secretary General on the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), Mr. Nitni Desai and the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) led by Dr. Markus Kummer.

The Secretariat of IGF in UN is headed by Dr. Kummer, who also has been the Executive Coordinator of the WGIG Secretariat, established by the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, at the request of the first phase of the Summit, in Geneva in 2003.

It would be recalled that at the end of two phased summit in Tunis, Greece Communications and Transport Minister, Mr. Michalis Liapis, had offered formally, his nation’s readiness to host the inaugural meeting of IGF this year, for continuous strengthening multi-stakeholder approach regarding administration of the Internet.

This was followed up with several consultative meetings in Geneva and New York.

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Globacom adds another innovation with BlackBerry

Remmy Nweke

GLOBACOM, the Second National Operator (SNO), has added another innovation into its basket of Value Added Services (VAS), introducing BlackBerry Enterprise Solution (BES) on the network.

BlackBerry, according to the Chief Operating Officer (COO), Mr. Mohammed Jameel, would create ripples in corporate Nigerians attitude to mobile communications.

BlackBerry comes with avalanche of VAS including the ability to provide secure, wireless access to electronic mail (e-mail), corporate data, phone, web and organizer features.

Professionals using BlackBerry, also have the chance of real-time access to email and other important information when away from the office and IT departments could centralize administration and management of all the handhelds.

Mr. Jameel noted that despite starting late in the nation’s telecom sector, Globacom has within a space of three years traversed the map of Nigeria with its infrastructure and roll out.

He also said that the operator has two missions, namely how to build the biggest network in Africa and how it would add value to the end-users.

The COO further disclosed that Glo has reached 9 million subscriber-base within this space of time.

With the introduction of BlackBerry, he said, Glo is transforming the enlarged voice market to data market, such as using Short Messaging Service (SMS) to e-mail and vice versa.

Endorsing the product as the chairman of the occasion, Chairman, Shell Nigeria, Mr. Basil Omiyi, said he was not taken aback by the advancement of the network, given their antecedent for innovation and development.

Pointing out that above all the benefits of BlackBerry, it gives in addition, peace of mind for busy executives.

He therefore, called on Nigerians especially corporate executives to exploit the product as he believed it would be a good business module.

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Commonwealth connects the divide

Remmy Nweke

Commonwealth Secretariat (CS) has began connecting the digitally divided members of the group with ‘Commonwealth Connects’.

Unveiling the initiative in London, Secretary General of Commonwealth, Mr. Don Mickinnon, said it is a programme aimed at harnessing Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for the benefit of member nations, specifically those in need.

According to communications officer at CS, Mr. Julius Mucunguzi, in a press statement available to our correspondent, Mr. McKinnon said the initiative would provide “concrete assistance for the development of ICTs in the least developed countries of the Commonwealth.

McKinnon noted that the initiative was in recognition of ICTs at the 2005 Heads of government meeting of Commonwealth in Malta, as a catalyst for development.

“ICTs offer opportunities to overcome the constraints of remoteness, small size, and other factors which have acted as obstacles to development. It was a very important landmark,” he said.

According to McKinnon, the launch was a “birth of a global web site for sharing best practice and best policy in ICT programmes and initiatives from right across the Commonwealth.”

The initial project tagged “Rebuilding After the Tsunami: Using ICTs for Change” was officially launched at the ceremony.

Special guest of honour at the event, the Maltese Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman, Commonwealth Connects’ Steering Committee, Dr Michael Frendo, said the programme would enable countries to enter the information age fully equipped to compete effectively in the global marketplace.

“We have a historic opportunity to provide solutions to the digital divide and genuinely give contribution to sustainable development, generating new growth, jobs and productivity, and to push up the standard of living of people in the Commonwealth,” he said.

Pointing out that the programme would help in improving engagement and participation from across all sectors of communities, societies and governments.

Commonwealth Connects programme, the minister said would help in building a centre of expertise, share resources across the Commonwealth and facilitate the implementation of sustainable, replicable products and projects.

India, Malta, Mozambique and Trinidad and Tobago, which are members of the Steering Committee, plan to fund Commonwealth Connects to a little under £1 million over the next three years.

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ULR: Prestel secures numbering plan

Remmy Nweke

EDO State-based Unified License Operator (ULO), Prest Cable & TV Systems Limited (Prestel), has secured a numbering plan from the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The numbering plan allocation is to facilitate the roll out plans of Prestel.

Director, Technical Research and Standards at NCC, Dr. Sylvanus Ehikioya made this disclosure in a letter to the management of Prestel at the weekend.

The letter, which copy was made available to ITRealms Online, confirms the payment of N70 million for the allocation of 1 million numbers, which begins with an area code of 07024.

Dr. Ehikioya also said that he was pleased to informed Prestel that its numbering area is national.

The access code and subscriber numbers, he said, would start with 000000 and end at 999999.

NCC, however, warned that the numbering plan is not transferable or re-assigned.

He emphasised that it should be strictly in accordance with the license terms and conditions.

The director also advised that it is renewable annually at the anniversary date, effective from the date of the letter conveying the numbering plan information.

He further urged the telco to comply with the nation’s Communications Act of 2003.

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APC integrates InfraStruXure with Smart UPS

Remmy Nweke

Leading global provider of end-to-end infrastructure, American Power Conversion (APC) has concluded the construction of full InfraStruXure system integrated with a Smart-Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) VT power module.

The integration comes with hot-swappable batteries and integrated power distribution, just as the new InfraStruXure system offers quick connect components and turnkey features to speed up deployment time.

APC’s Vice President, Enterprise Systems and Business Networks, Dwight Sperry, revealed this development and said the system also decreased total-cost-of-ownership by minimizing space and reducing operating, installation and expansion costs.

“Since the InfraStruXure with Smart-UPS VT architecture uses a modular and scalable design approach, users can expand the system by adding APC’s innovative in-row cooling, centralized management and security products for enhanced capabilities,” he said.

Noting that the legendary and award winning Smart-UPS line joined with innovative InfraStruXure architecture provide customers with highly agile and available solutions for their Information Technology (IT) environments.

“The system’s high power density, small form factor and modular architecture make it ideal for applications ranging from high density, disaster recovery and VoIP/IP telephony,” the VP said.

This new Network Critical Physical Infrastructure (NCPI) solution offers a fully-integrated system at a lower initial investment and incorporates several innovative features such as a single rack-based design for better utilization of floor space, higher power efficiency for lower operating costs and a new power distribution design for simplified installation and expansion.

“Finally, the system improves availability with additional internal battery capacity for runtime scalability,” Sperry said.

APC underscored that the new InfraStruXure with Smart-UPS VT is ideal for server rooms and small data centres as well as for remote locations including regional offices, even as it is available in 30KVA and 40KVA, 400V input and are now available in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

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1,000 visitors expected @ NIPEX-06

Remmy Nweke

Orgainsers of the Nigeria International Print Expo (NIPEX), Design Concept & System has assured that this year’s edition will add value to print business and the nation’s economy.

Speaking during a media chat in Lagos, President, Design Concept, Tunde Obokhai noted that the West Africa’s premier print expo will surpass the expectations of previous editions in terms of organization, quality of exhibitors and visitors.

According to Obokhai not less than 1000 quality visitors are expected to come daily for the event.

This he said is expected to add value to the print industry in Nigeria as latest print processes, equipment and consumables are to be showcased by the exhibitors fro around the world.

“Part of the innovations for this year’s NIPEX 2006 are regular free presentations, work shops by industry experts on modern trends in printing. There is also the All Nigeria Printers Conference holding from 14th to 15th September at the Agip Recital Hall of Muson Centre to address pertinent issues affecting the future of print in Nigeria” he said.

Obokhai added that this year’s expo is expected to bring together sellers and buyers of print products from prepress, press and post press of printing.

“It is also expected to accommodate office equipment and IT/Computer accessories, as they avail to the industry” he added.

Meanwhile, exhibitors already confirmed for the EXPO 2006 scheduled to hold from September 14-16 at the Muson centre, Onikan include Hewlett Packard, Premium Graphics, Production Point, Pomat Peters, Camelot, Dalewares.

ECRM, Agfa, Libra Global, Rain bowl Cards, Top Solutions, Sanoles Prints, Telegrapiqe and other exhibitors from South Africa, USA,UK and China.

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