Internet Solutions expands Lagos data center with N231.7

Internet Solutions West Africa has invested $1.5m, about N231,750,000.00 on its Lagos data center located at the Victoria Island.

The Managing Director, Internet Solutions West Africa, Mr. Steve Herridge made this disclosure in Lagos, saying that the expansion of the data centre and hosting facility housed in the Victoria Island part of Lagos State.

This expansion exercise, he also said, comes on the back of previous revelations made signaling the company’s dedication and commitment to communications infrastructural development in Nigeria.

Herridge noted that the growth of Information Technology (IT) data processing environment is multi-dimensional.

“Factors like business type, customer behaviour, storage, regulatory demands, risk management, and technology innovation all affect how businesses process and store data,” he said, stressing that due to developments such as increasing demand, virtualization, and requirements for low latency data connectivity, the data centre has become a dynamic environment which must constantly be re-calibrated to maintain its effectiveness.

According to him, the expansion involves an additional investment of $1.5m (N231,750,000.00 million) in the Victoria Island centre covering areas like Power Generation and upgraded facilities to cater for the growth of the data centre.

He added that since the arrival of two new submarine cables in Nigeria there has been an explosion of interest from international companies wanting to do business in Nigeria and has facilitated the growth in demand for server and application hosting.

“We made the decision to expand the available space in our VI facility on the back of an order received from one of our major banking customers; but this expansion then allows us to cater for the high demand that we now see in the hosting and co-location business in Nigeria, both from businesses currently operating within Nigeria and business looking to enter the market,” Herridge said.

He explained that on the back of this demand Internet Solutions will be launching its new Virtualisation Hosting service to create better utilisation of space and facilities, allowing customers to take Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), to a whole new level.

For him, the level of capital investment required to bring data centre facilities in Nigeria up to world standards requires that there is a clever balancing act with the long-term plan for how the benefits can be maximised.
He recalled that historically, Internet Solutions have held a very strong stance on infrastructure sharing and advocates that it can only result in better servicing for all stakeholders.
“At Internet Solutions, we believe that Infrastructure sharing of networks and facilities such as data centre’s will help drive the cost of the services we provide down and assist in the growth of the internet and internet based businesses in Nigeria,” he said.

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AHAI partners NTA channel 10 on EEBB2011

Empowerment Exhibition Beyond Borders (EEBB2011) in collaboration with the African Human Assistance Initiative (AHAI) and NTA Channel 10 Lagos, has advanced plans for the hosting of six-day event at the National Theatre, Iganmu-Lagos.

Chief Executive Officer, African Human Assistance Initiative (AHAI), Mr. Ejide F. Oladunmoye said that the weeklong event scheduled to hold between May 10 and 16, 2011 follows the success of 2010 edition that EEBB is a perfect place to recruit new customers and strengthen relationship with the old clients.

“An exhibition where buyers and sellers come together is viewed by business people as an opportunity for “big” business. It also offers a chance for the exhibitors to share their innovations and latest development with their customers,” he said.

According to him, the exhibitions when combined with appropriate marketing strategies could create sparkling opportunities for businesses.

“It is also the best place to test a new product because immediate feedback can be received from visitors. Exhibition would revitalize some of the products and services which have fallen behind the market and perhaps, your organization may also come up with another brilliant idea by exchanging conversation and sharing information with your visitors,” he said.

Businesses, he said, could benefit a great deal because they would have the opportunity to meet a group of live audience in a short time, thus the most cost-effective way to promote business.
He therefore called on merchants to take this opportunity to showcase their products as much as possible.

EEBB, he said, would provide an avenue to talk to customers and promote new products as well as conducting of research on individual customers’ profile.

Participants, he noted, are usually very aggressive in searching for what they need because they may come a long way from home to attend the event for a few days.

“Therefore, if you treat them well and handle everything properly, you will get a deal, perhaps a “big” one,” he said.

Ejide further said that NTA channel 10 has thus commissioned Microres Limited and African Human Assistance Initiative (AHAI) to organize Empowerment Expo Beyond Borders 2011 (EEBB2011).

“AfricanHuman Assistance Initiative (AHAI) would be focusing her attention on the Information
Communication and Telecommunication (ICT) exhibitors and activities of the event,” he said.

The vision of AHAI, he said, is to provide an enabling platform and environment for human capacity building, youth and SME empowerment, while its mission is to serve as a platform for exhibiting products and services that are available in Nigeria which could serve as a means of empowerment.

“It is expected to bring people into the limelight and serve as a means of networking organization and individuals in ICT,” he said.

On the objectives, he said, the Federal Government having realized that no economy could develop without empowering its populace is supporting the event.

EEBB2011, he said, would facilitate showcase to the world and in particular Nigerians, ICT products both hardware and software, equipments and services among others.

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Smart Grid links communications, electricity – ITU

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has continued to innovate with the latest being that Smart Grid will soon form a linkage between communication and electricity as International Telecommunication Union plans to standardize the format for global consumption.

This indication emerged at the weekend with the insight that the new standards will enable cost-effective smart grid applications such as distribution automation, smart meters, smart appliances and advanced recharging systems for electric vehicles as having entered the final stage of approval.

The smart grid ITU said would be based on the G.hnem standards as recommended by the ITU- Telecommunication Standardization Sector to address several smart grid applications such as distribution automation, advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), demand side management (DSM), grid-to-home communications, home/building energy management, home automation, vehicle-to-grid and vehicle-to-charging station communications.

Confirming this development, Secretary General, ITU, Dr Hamadoun Touré said, noted that in a standard power system, generation, delivery and consumption of electricity all take place at the same time.

This, he said, makes the control of supply and demand uniquely challenging, hence, the new standards tends to provide the crucial link between electricity and communications networks, thereby enabling utilities to exercise a higher level of monitoring and control of the grid.

He explained that G.hnem is an ideal platform for smart grid applications because of its support of power lines as a communications medium that is under the direct and complete control of power utilities.

“Since power line communications (PLC) exploit the existing wired infrastructure, the cost to deploy a communications channel is greatly reduced,” he said.

In addition, Toure said, because G.hnem supports popular protocols like Ethernet, Internet Protocol version Four (IPv4) and Internet Protocol version Six (IPv6), G.hnem-based smart grid networks can easily be integrated with IP-based networks.

“Smart Grid is a dynamic addition to today’s energy networks, which will be capable of delivering customizable services on a massive scale. To ensure an efficient global rollout, global standards are a must,” the ITU scribe said.

Also commenting, Director, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, ITU, Mr. Malcolm Johnson pointing out that many national stimulus plans have given smart grid significant backing, especially with the need for standards also cited as key to the fast rollout of the technology.

“The G.hnem standards now entering the final stages of approval can be applied globally today, and are ready to give a much needed boost to power line communications technology, making electricity distribution cleaner, leaner and greener,” he said.

The two G.hnem standards ITU-T G.9955 and G.9956, he explained, contain the physical layer and data link layer specification respectively, for narrowband Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), power line communications transceivers for communications via alternating current and direct current electric power lines over frequencies below 500 kHz.

These ITU-T standards, Johnson said, support indoor and outdoor communications over low voltage lines, medium voltage lines, through transformer low-voltage to medium-voltage, and through transformer medium-voltage to low-voltage power lines in both urban and long distance rural communications.

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92 emerge in Samsung Valentine Escape promo

A total of 92 winners emerged in the first raffle draw of Samsung Valentine Escape promo, which held in Lagos at the weekend.

Head, Product Marketing at Samsung Nigeria, Mr. Jude Omozegie said that 92 emerged at the weekend in the promo expected to produce over 2060 winners and more winners are expected to emerge in the coming weeks.

Out of this figure, he said, that some of them have been chosen to go all expense paid in Gambia with their partners, some others won Samsung Galaxy tablet phone which runs on Google application.

Other rewards, he said, include winners who won Samsung E1160.

He noted that earlier in the year, Samsung decided to run the promo to encourage love as depicted by St. Valentine which is celebrated on February 14, every year.

Initially, he said, the promo was supposed to end on March 15, but has been moved further by a week, urging Nigerians, especially customers of Samsung to take advantage of the change in the deadline to buy more Samsung products to enable them participate in the promo.

“It’s only those who buy Samsung at this period of the promo that can participate in the Valentine Escape promo,” he said.

He also noted that another raffle draw would take place in two weeks time and urged Samsung customers to be vigilant.

Meanwhile, the Lagos Television annual end of year fair 2010 ended in the centre of excellence with the full participation of Samsung Electronics West Africa (SEWA).

The event which took place at the Lagos State Television ground, Alausa, Lagos, attracted visitors from all walks of life.

Speaking on the event, Product Manager, Home Appliances, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Menmohan Chandroth, said, Samsung’s participation in the annual fair which saw several people visiting the stand during the month long fair, with three special open days, was targeted to reach different consumers, in line with the company’s strategic objective to reach more people and create awareness for Samsung products in the marketplace.

According to him Samsung understands the Nigerian market as the company has been in Nigeria for 13 years with 20 per cent market share in the home appliances category.

“Though Nigerian market is still an emerging market, it is highly competitive and rapidly growing and Samsung is poised to do things that will improve the market. The customers are also getting matured, looking for quality products at good prices. That is exactly what Samsung is offering them,” he said.

He also informed that Samsung has started assembling some of her product range in Nigeria.
Products like refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners are being assembled in the country. He informed that the company will be assembling television sets right here too.

“We are coming out with new products next year which will be highly user friendly and rightly priced for the Nigerian people. This approach will endear Samsung more into people’s hearts and our products acceptance level will be much higher. Nigerians are highly price conscious and they want the best product at the right price. Samsung will be at the forefront, offering great products at affordable prices. We will continue to come out with innovative products in the coming year”, he adds.

Samsung products are A+ which saves energy and are also eco friendly. Consumers of Samsung products should expect new models in 2011.

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ICANN assures on Internet eco-system

The global coordinator of the internet protocol addresses, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has a healthy Internet eco-system before the end of 2013.

This was contained in ICANN’s strategic operating plan and budget for 2010 through 2013 made available to ITRealms Online, with four-key strategic focus supporting its mission to deliver one world, one Internet with everyone connected.

Apart from ensuring a healthy Internet eco-system before December 2013, ICANN said, the Domain Name System (DNS) will be stabilized and security enthroned for consumer to have adequate choice based on competition and innovation.

While it’s administrative arm, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) will ensure that core operations is flawless.

In addition, ICANN led by Mr. Rod Beckstrom said it will ensure one unified, global Internet where all stakeholders will have a voice, improved accountability and transparency.

The aforementioned, ICANN noted would enhance the trust in ICANN’s stewardship to the global internet community.

ICANN said it’s operating plan and budget outline come with the goals to be accomplished and the resources required to implement the organization’s strategy.

“ICANN is a global multi-stakeholder organization that coordinates the Internet domain name system (DNS) and addressing for the benefit of Internet users worldwide, enabling a single, interoperable Internet,” part of the outline stated.

ICANN’s community-developed policies govern over 180 million domain names, the allocation of more than four and a quarter billion network addresses, and support a trillion daily DNS look-ups across 240 countries and territories, connecting billions of computers, phones, and other devices, across the Internet.

DNS cyber security is a top priority. ICANN also administers the network protocol and parameter registries for the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) that supports the operation and orderly evolution of the Internet.

Further, ICANN’s leadership and credibility derives from collaborating with thousands of companies, individuals and government participants in global Internet governance and policy development.

Working largely in the background, ICANN’s centralized coordination mission is fundamental to the continued success of the Internet.

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Motorola warns on fake 2-way radios

Regional Sales Manager, Motorola Solutions Africa, Mr. Nicolas Coussinoux, has warned Nigerians of fake products.

Motorola Solutions provides mission-critical solutions ranging from two way radio communications products and systems to an array of mobile computing devices.

Speaking recently, Coussinoux said that unfortunately, counterfeiting has become so pervasive in Nigeria that not only consumer products, such as household items, mobile phones and automobile spare parts are involved, but professional telecommunication devices, such as two-way radios are becoming affected too. Several counterfeit Motorola products have recently hit the market, all of which lack the quality and ruggedness of the original, leaving users unable to rely on their functionality – often when it matters most.

“Nigeria is a priority for Motorola in the African market,” explains Nicolas Coussinoux, Regional Sales Manager, Motorola Solutions Africa.

“We want users of 2-way radios who rely on Motorola’s product integrity to know that they can only buy genuine Motorola products from our official local distributors and resellers, such as Danimex Nigeria and Briscoe Technologies,” he said.

Motorola professional partners, he said, are the only ones to answer any requests on Motorola products and the only ones qualified to provide technical support.

“They will also be able to advice on the right products and the right price,” he said, stressing that buying original Motorola products is the only way users could be assured of the product’s integrity, reliability and performance in even the most extreme circumstances,” he said.

According to him, Motorola products go through rigorous international testing in severe and extreme environments, and adhere to international military standards, emphasising that local accredited resellers have received wide-ranging of technical training and provide the highest standard of pre- and after sales support.

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Global Internet body budgets N10.1 trillion for 2011

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will spend the sum of $65,509,000 about N10,114,916,960.22 trillion in 2011.

ICANN in an operating plan and budget outline made available to ITRealms Online at the weekend, indicated that the goals to be accomplished and the resources required to implement an organization’s strategy.

ICANN is responsible for managing and coordinating the Domain Name System (DNS) to ensure that every address is unique and that all users of the Internet can find all valid addresses. Also, it does this by overseeing the distribution of unique Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and domain names to make certain that each domain name maps to the correct IP address.

In a budget outline tagged ‘ICANN’s 2010 to 2013 Strategic Plan,’ ICANN stated in its summary, that the body would $65,509,000.

ITRealms Online gathered that ICANN intend to rake the sum of $32,647,000 from the Registry, Registrar, $29,159,000, Regional Internet Registry (RIR) $823,000, country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD) $1,600,000, Internationalised Domain Names (IDN-ccTLD) $780,000 and meeting sponsorships $500,000.

The above outline totals $65,509,000, while ICANN forecast showed that it would rake in about $63,313,000, while its budget for 2010 was fixed at $62,641,600 with difference of $2,867,400, which indicates a difference of 4.6 per cent between the 2010 and 2011 budget plan for the organisation.

ITRealms Online also gathered that ICANN has contracts with registry operators of 17 generic top level domains (gTLDs) such as dot-asia, dot-com and dot-jobs, even as registry fees are described in the respective registry agreements.

ICANN is also responsible for accrediting the domain name registrars, which means the identification and setting minimum standards for the performance of registration functions, to recognize persons or entities meeting those standards, and to enter into an accreditation agreement that sets forth the rules and procedures applicable to the provision of Registrar Services.

ICANN's role is very limited, and it is not responsible for many issues associated with the Internet, such as financial transactions, Internet content control, spam - unsolicited commercial electronic mail (email), Internet gambling or data protection and privacy.

Created on September 18, 1998 and incorporated on September 30, the same year, ICANN which is headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States, oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly on behalf of the United States government by other organizations, notably the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).

ICANN is responsible for managing the Internet Protocol address spaces (IPv4 and IPv6) and assignment of address blocks to regional Internet registries, for maintaining registries of Internet protocol identifiers, and for the management of the top-level domain name space (DNS root zone), which includes the operation of root name servers. Most visibly, much of its work has concerned the introduction of new generic top-level domains (TLDs). The technical work of ICANN is referred to as the IANA function.

ICANN's primary principles of operation have been described as helping to preserve the operational stability of the Internet; to promote competition; to achieve broad representation of global Internet community; and to develop policies appropriate to its mission through bottom-up, consensus-based processes.

On September 29, 2006, ICANN signed a new agreement with the United States Department of Commerce (DOC) that moves the private organization towards full management of the Internet's system of centrally coordinated identifiers through the multi-stakeholder model of consultation that ICANN represents.

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Afolabi tasks civil servants on use of onegov.net

Head, Civil Service of the Federation, Prof. Oladapo Afolabi, has urged federal civil servants in the country to take advantage of the onegov.net by making use of it.

This, he said, would boost the delivery of electronic governance in the country thereby working towards the actualization of Federal Government efforts to transform governance through the delivery of professional, timely and cost effective services to the citizenry.

Speaking at the just ended five-day seminar on strategies for e-governance penetration in the civil service organized by Galaxy Backbone for about 500 workers in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, he said the concept is to promote e-governance among civil servants.

Afolabi noted that by usage of onegov.net by civil servants nationwide especially the newly created official electronic mail (e-mail) addresses powered by Galaxy Backbone, they are bound to imbibe the habit of electronic learning (e-learning).

Also, he said, this would pave the way for the building of a virile workforce with less cost and less stress.

He highlight the importance his office attached to e-governance in the civil service as an avenue for ease of access to government information and enhanced citizen interaction with government services.

Afolabi was also quoted in a supporting press statement by Manager, Corporate Communications, Galaxy Backbone, Mr. Ginger Ekeh as saying that calling on civil servants to step-up their skills on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) usage by “cultivating the habit of communicating their non-confidential documents, letters, minutes of meetings, request for proposals (RFP) etc, first with themselves through their secured website www.mda.gov.ng and then with the public until you graduate to higher levels of usage.”

He pointed out that the National Information and Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has re-positioned itself and is ready to provide the Domain Names and Galaxy Backbone has the mandate to put in place the onegov.net which is a platform for connected government to enable unified communication across government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

Speaking at the occasion, Head, Federal Public Sector, Mr. Frank Ugbodaga, who stood-in for the Managing Director, Galaxy Backbone, noted that according to a United Nations e-Government Survey, the underlining principle of connected government is to improve the internal workings of the public sector by reducing financial costs and transaction time, to better manage the work flow and processes.

Equally, he said, this would improve institutional linkages between different government agencies, ministries and units as well as enabling a better flow of resources and allocation of responsibilities to promote the delivery of public services.

Ugbodaga described the onegove.net as a single pervasive ICT infrastructure platform (1-Gov) supporting open Internet Protocol (IP) technology (.net) that enables open access and service oriented architecture where functionality could be delivered as services.

The platform, he said, comprises technologies, standards and processes that drive consistency, reliability and inter-operability.

“Thus, it is a ready platform for embarking on all e-Government programs without the technical issues of infrastructure integration and inter-operability,” he said.

Ugbodaga elucidated that the onegov.net portal is a feature of the onegov.net platform and is a secure web portal that could be assessed over the government intranet anytime, anywhere on any IT device.

“It’s the digital workplace for tomorrow’s civil servant. The portal is an electronic mail with capabilities for sharing documents, sending memos, receiving payroll slips and e-learning,” he submitted.

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CWG lifts Lagos NYSC with personal computers

As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) has lifted the Lagos State Chapter of the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) with six Personal Computers.

The donation is expected to boost the computer training and job search centre for the NYSC members.

Group Head, Human Resource at CWG, Mrs. Olapeju Ayo-Fisher, said at the presentation ceremony in Lagos that CWG is driven by the urge to promote and support education as well as the development of young individuals in areas of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), which has become an integral aspect of the company’s corporate policy not just in Nigeria but across areas in Africa where it has operations.

Ayo-Fisher, who was accompanied by CWG’s Public Relations executive Mrs. Toyin Aderibigbe, reiterated CWG’s commitment to education.

She said, Computer Warehouse Group is proud of its association with the National Youth service Corp and is very impressed with this initiative.

“We support you with these systems and we hope it’s put into effective and proper use” she said.

Additionally, Mrs. Ayo-Fisher explained to the NYSC team made up of Mrs. Rachael Ideawor and Mrs. Takun, NYSC Lagos Chapter’s Public Relations Officers and the State coordinator Mr. L.A. Laniyan about CWG’s initiatives.

“As part of our efforts at equipping young people with exceptional and lucrative technical skills, the group has got within it an academy where individuals are trained on modern skills in areas around Hardware Infrastructure, Software and Communications Technology,” she said, noting that exceptional students from the academy are most times absorbed into the company.

Responding after receiving the PCs, the state co-ordinator, Mr. Laniyan expressed appreciation to Computer Warehouse Group for the gesture on behalf of his team.

“… We thank and commend the efforts of CWG especially in heeding to our call and its quest at developing young individuals in Nigeria and across Africa,” he said.

He expressed the believe that this laudable gesture would go a long way in helping the centre tremendously, just as he noted the amount of work that has been done by CWG in developing the ICT industry in West Africa and now making concrete steps at expanding across the continent.

Mr. Laniyan further said that the job search centre which is aimed at assisting Corp members become ICT literates as well as rendering assistance in accessing job vacancies online had for sometime not been fully operational as a result of lack of some basic amenities which include desk-top computers.

“The building when fully put in place will be equipped with modern equipments and ICT facilities,” he assured.

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MainOne deploys Cisco’s IP-NGN for W/Africa

MainOne Cable Company, the first privately owned submarine network cable in West Africa, will be deploying Cisco’s Internet Protocol Next- Generation Network (IP-NGN) solution to take broadband capacity in West Africa to the next level.

The platform will provide a strong foundation for meeting Main One’s present and future business services requirements.

Demand for highly secure, high bandwidth network capacity from government and global enterprise customers is driving Main One to deploy its new network.

Working with Cisco, Main One will develop a high quality IP based network and application service offerings to create efficient content delivery highway to private and public communications networks in West Africa. Customers will benefit from various value-added services enabled by IP technology such as Virtual Private Networks (VPN), Voice Over IP (VOIP), IPTV and advanced collaboration technologies.

In addition, the Main One network will provide its customers the flexibility of being able to purchase bandwidth in smaller increments further enabling broadband penetration within West Africa.

Integral to meeting these customer requirements will be the deployment of the Cisco CRS-3 and ASR 9000 Series routers for enhanced capacity, high resiliency, and robust Internet Protocol version (IPv6) support.

Commenting on the project, Main One Cable, Chief Executive Officer, Funke Opeke said her company is set to deliver a state of the art IP Next Generation Network platform to accelerate the deployment of broadband in West Africa.

“The market is demanding for more sophisticated services and we have chosen to work with Cisco to deliver its latest and most innovative technology solutions that will help Main One develop its customer offerings and stay ahead of the game,” she said.

Equally, speaking, Cisco’s President for Emerging Markets, Paul Mountford, noted that the deployment of new technology solutions could now be increased significantly throughout the sub-Saharan African region as Cisco and Main One join forces to develop a state of the art IP network.

“Cisco’s vision is to be the leading enabler of ICT and broadband acceleration in Africa through innovative, scalable, high-value technology offerings and solutions. Main One’s high capacity fibre optic cable will help to accelerate this vision into becoming a reality,” he said.

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