W.Afri.Tel: Celebration of speedy growth

5 Following the persistent unique growth of participation recorded over the years at the West African International Telecommunications (W.Afr.Tel) exhibitions and conferences, the nation’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) companies are routing for the eighth edition of the event.

This include the federal government who it was gathered has concluded arrangements to send a high-powered delegation to this year’s W.Afri.Tel, given the kind of attention it has drawn for Nigeria through attraction of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and growth recorded in the last eight years.

Historically, W.Afri.Tel which began just few months before the rolling out of commercial services on the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) in the country, that is, precisely in June 2001, is organised by Exhibition Management Services (Pty), owned by a Briton resident in South Africa, Mr. John Thomson, with the parent company being the Trade Fair Investments of United Kingdom (UK) with over 15 years experience.

Speaking recently on his vision for W.Afri.Tel, Mr. Thomson said, it’s to be the most professional and largest exhibition in its class for the West African sub-region and the event in its eighth year, no doubt event has achieved even more than that.

According to him, W.Afri.Tel has contributed immensely to the telecom revolution in Nigeria; that is coming when there was literally not much to talk about, thus bringing in investors, exhibitors and visitors from across the globe.

So far, the event has convinced foreign investors that Nigeria is indeed, the market to be in and it is interesting that Nigeria, which had less than 500,000 telephone lines prior to W.Afri.Tel initial entrance now has over 46 million lines and is still counting.

Therefore, it was not surprising that the government of the day has reason to celebrate and identify with W.Afri.Tel at this year’s event.

Latest information reaching ITRealms Online as at last weekend indicated that the Minister of Information and Communication, Mr. John Ogar Odey, his minister of state, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki Nakande, and the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ernest Ndukwe have advanced plans to be present at the W.Afri.Tel 2008.

Sources close to the ministry in Abuja, said that Odey would lead the federal government’s delegation made up of top government functionaries to grace the opening session of the event.

Affirming this, the sole agent of W.AfriTel, the publishers of IT & Telecom Digest, stated that several other industry operators including professional associations, like the Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria, Nigeria Internet Group, Association of Licensed Telephone Operators, among others, would be represented at the highest levels at the opening ceremony.

Chief host at the event and editor-in-chief of IT & Telecom Digest, Mr. Mkpe Abang, in a press statement made available to ITRealms Online said W.Afri.Tel has over time grown to become the sub-region’s leading and most professional exhibition on the ICT sector.

“From a time when foreign direct investment (FDI) in the ICT sector was just under $50 million, today, FDI to Nigeria through the sector stands at over $12 billion,” he said.

As said by him, leading operators in the telecom sector, including the second national operator, Globacom, Celtel Nigeria, Starcomms, and the newest mobile operator, Etisalat are all geared toward taking active part in this year’s W.AfriTel as exhibitors, just as Sony Ericsson, Netcom Africa among others are not left out.

Available information also showed that foreign ICT firms that took part last year came from far away Europe, Asia, Americas and other parts of the continent, especially from South Africa.

The organisers pointed out that though W.Afri.Tel has been consistent in taking place every June since 2001 with phenomenal growth of over 60 per cent each successive year. Its major challenge has been the search for spacious location to accommodate what they described as “increasing number of prospective exhibitors.”

Statistically, W.Afri.Tel cuts across telecommunications, Information Technology (IT), communication, electronic, oil and gas, professional, banking and legal, commercial, manufacturing as well as building and construction sectors of the economy respectively.

As the industry players warm up for the 2008, invariably expectations are high and only time would tell how it fared, especially given the number of visitors which increased over 1,500 recorded in 2001 to above 2,000 in 2002, while in excess of 2,800 in 2003, the year 2004 recorded over 3,500 even as 4,000 participating in 2005 with additional300 in 2006, the 2007 expectedly doubled against 2005 record, another groundbreaking record of participants is obvious this year.

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NIG gets new exco, retains Ajayi

Convinced by the performance of his leadership in the past two years, members of the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG) have re-elected a seasoned telecom engineer and chief executive of PiNet Informatics, Mr. Lanre Ajayi for another two years in office as the president of the group.

Also on board to work with Ajayi from the election, which held in Lagos, last Friday at the Golden Gate Ikoyi-Lagos, were the chief executive of HiiT Limited, Mr. Kayode Shobanjo, as the vice president, and a seasoned Internet savvy accountant, Mr. Bosun Arebowa who also retained his position as the treasurer of NIG.

Equally elected in the new executive is the Head, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Desk at Champion Newspapers Limited, Mr. Remmy Nweke as the publicity secretary. Whereas the immediate past publicity secretary, Mr. Kazim Akinrete and Managing Director, Ice Cool Contracts, Mr. Destiny Amana were appointed ex-officio members.

Speaking at the occasion, leader of the election committee and a member of NIG board of trustees as well as the immediate past President of the group, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem tasked the new executive to always remember that they have been elected in the tradition of NIG to serve, emphasising that more service is demanded of them now that the nation is seeking transform from being a mere Internet-user country to content providers on the Internet.

Ekuwem congratulated the executive and wished them well in all endeavours as they carry the mantle of leader of the group till 2010.

Responding afterwards following the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the group and election, Mr. Ajayi who spoke on behalf of his team promised Nigerians an increased bright presence of local content on the Internet, mostly via the implementation of Internet for Job (I4J) initiative of the group launched June 12, 2007 and during his first term in office.

He paid tribute to members of NIG for the support given him in the past and in ensuring that the 2008 election was held without any atom of rancour as most of the elective positions were unopposed.

“We are committed to serve NIG and provide positive local content from Nigeria,” he asserted, enjoining Nigerian Internet public to make sure they take advantage of it and transform the Nigeria’s image positively.

Commending the electoral committee led by Dr. Ekuwem and supported by the group’s administrative secretary, Mr. Fidelis Orji, he reiterated the commitment of his team to try their possible best, noting that service to NIG is service to motherland.

Founded in 1995, NIG prides itself as an umbrella non-government organisation (NGO) dedicated to the promotion and growth of the Internet in the country with open membership for interested public who are involved in the growth of the Internet technology, irrespective of educational background and current field of employment.

Presently, NIG membership cuts across the academia, non-governmental organizations, government parastatals, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), private organizations and individuals.

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10% piracy reduction generates 24,000 jobs - BSA

Recent study conducted by the International Data Corporation (IDC) has shown that approximated 10 per cent reduction was seen in the level of piracy on the continent, just as this has given leverage to creation of 24,000 jobs in 2007.

The study was released by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a group advancing free and open world trade for legitimate business software by advocating strong intellectual property protection.

According to the BSA Nigeria spokesman, Mr. Akeem Aponmade, the study also revealed that reducing the Personal Computer (PC) software piracy rate in the entire African region by 10 percentage points would have a multiplier effect.

This, he said, increases economic benefits and has the potential to generate 24,000 additional jobs, which has attracted estimated $600 million in tax revenues and $3.4 billion in spending in the local Information Technology (IT) sector over the next four years in Africa.

Mr. Aponmade, also commended the efforts being made so far by the law enforcement agencies notably the Nigeria Copyrights Commission (NCC) and the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), stressing that more work needs to be done, especially in the private sector.

He defined software as unique in its ability to drive value throughout other sectors and thus, policy makers should find a compelling case for taking steps to reduce software piracy in order to reap the economic benefits of a strong national software and IT sector.

“It is clear that reducing software piracy delivers real results that help real people with real challenges,” he said.

BSA is the foremost organization promoting a safe and legal digital world and serves as the voice of the world’s commercial software industry fostering technology innovation through education and policy initiatives that promote copyright protection, cyber security, trade and e-commerce.

A press statement from BSA Nigeria, quoted its African spokesman, Alastair de Wet, noted that when countries take steps to reduce software piracy, “everyone stands to benefit.”

He pointed out that with more and better job opportunities, a stronger, more secure business environment, and greater economic contributions from the already robust IT sector; reducing software piracy delivers tangible benefits for governments and local economies.

Equally, IDC findings indicated that for every $1 spent on legitimate packaged software, an additional $1.25 is spent on related services such as installing the software, training personnel, and providing maintenance services.

BSA emphasised that most of these benefits accrue to locally-based software services and channel firms, meaning the greatest proportion of the economic benefits from lowering software piracy stay within the country.

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Daniel praises Cisco Academy

Executive governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has praised Cisco Network Academy over its ongoing commitment to the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and networking skills amongst Nigerians and across West and Central Africa.

Speaking last weekend at the launch of Cisco Africa Networking Academy Safari held in Abeokuta, capital of Ogun State, Daniel commended the firm on the initiative and sustaining the tempo.

ITRealms Online recalls that the Africa Networking Academy Safari, now in its third year, was organized by the Cisco Networking Academy and played host to academies across key regions on the continent aiming to raise and maintain the quality of IT instruction by offering quality technical retraining sessions to instructors as well as facilitating networking between Academy instructors, prospective employers for workforce development and Cisco strategic business partners otherwise known as resellers.

The two-day conference was attended by prominent Nigerian dignitaries such as the Governor Gbenga Daniel who was represented by a delegation led by the immediate past Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Hon. Titi Oseni, the Commissioner of Education, Professor Segun Awonusi, as well as Commissioners and Permanent Secretaries of the State.

Also in attendance were over 120 instructors as well as a large numbers of supporters and Cisco strategic partners.

In his keynote address Governor Daniel noted that Nigerians are pacesetters and have resolved to continue to make huge investments into the development of the education sector particularly.

“The area of Information and Communication Technology as a tool for economic, educational and social development in Nigeria. Joining forces with Cisco and indeed the Network Academy has been an invaluable asset to achieving that vision,” he said.

For Prof. Awonusi the event was a demonstration of Cisco’s commitment to the continuous development of the instructors to ensure cutting edge training to their students.

Managing Director, Cisco Nigeria, Mr. Maduka Emelife, said networking is the very heart of the Internet Protocol (IP) revolution experienced in the world today.

“So, we at Cisco are absolutely committed to ensuring that Nigeria is brought up to speed with prevailing technology,” he said, adding that its the essence of a conference such as this one.

“We are proud to be at the forefront of ensuring that Nigeria remains at the cutting edge of the global technological evolution,” he said.

Emelife explained that there was four awards given out at the event during the close of the first day of the conference, namely the Best Regional Academy won by the University of Jos; Best Local Academy won by Ijebu Igbo Polytechnic; Best New Academy went to AfriHUB academy in UniZik in Awka and Best Instructor award won by Mr Sadiki Babatunde of the Gateway Polytechnic Saapade.

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D-Link consolidates on regional presence

Regional Director, D-Link International, Mr Jacky Chang has disclosed that the firm would consolidate on its presence in Nigeria to expand to other countries in the West African region.

Mr. Chang in a press statement made available to correspondent in Lagos, said that D-Link brand is a niche with versatile and functional product, even as its technology is contemporary.

“Our brand is niche, our products are versatile and functional and our technology is contemporary,” he said.

According to him, D-Link Nigeria has lined up a series of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) programmes that would further consolidate its global position as the number one manufacturer of SMB networking products, and as well increase its market share in the Enterprise Market for Industrial Scale Network Solutions and Services.

The Regional Director hinted that his team would be meeting specific players in the key sectors of the Nigerian economy such as the financial sector, oil and gas, telecommunications, and educational institutions.

He explained that the objective is to engage these sectors in the use of our worldwide acclaimed solutions that has greatly influenced sectoral and national development in several countries.

Chang added that the great potential and the emerging nature of Nigeria demands for the best and most experienced players from all parts of the globe, stressing that D-Link is well positioned to play and create a win-win situation for all Nigerians.

He emphasised that the scheduled event for June 5, at the Golden Gate Towers, Ikoyi, would have speakers including the Country Consultant, Dr. Chris Uwaje, defining it as the platform the organisation has chosen to emphasis and display its solutions as it applies to the different spectrums of the Nigerian economy.

Equally, the Minister for Science & Technology, Mrs Grace Ekpiwhre, Minister of State for Information and Communications, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki Nakande, and chairman, Senate Committee on Communications, Sen. Sylvester Anyanwu would grace the event.

In addition, founder of Visafone, Mr. Jim Ovia, Director General of the National IT Development Agency (NITDA), Prof Cleopas Angaye, Zinox Technologies, Dr. Leo Stan Ekeh among others are being expected.

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Expect Egyptian magic in Nigeria – Etisalat

The fifth Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) operator, Etisalat Nigeria Limited, has sounded a note of warning to competitors as its warming up to replicate what the telco magically did in Egyptian operation by achieving over five million subscribers in one year.

Giving this assurance, Chief executive of Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Saoud Al Shamsi, told newsmen at the just concluded 2008 ITU Telecom Africa held at the Cairo International Convention Centre, Cairo, Egypt, this has been a key reason for not being in a haste to roll out commercially.

These efforts, he said, were to sustain that kind of overwhelming subscriber-base as achieved in Egypt, accompanied with the quality of service, which Etisalat is known for throughout its operation in the Middle East and Africa (MEA).

“It is because of that kind of services and quality that we have managed to do that and we do not think that our performance and accomplishment in Nigeria will be anything less,” Al Shamsi said.

He explained that in Egypt, Etisalat launched with both Second Generation (2G) and Third Generation (3G) technologies respectively and even later advanced to 3.75 G with telecom presence in most of the cities.

“Our presence and track record in Egypt is just a demonstration of our track record in quality of service. We have 2G and 3G licenses in Egypt and it tells you the kind of services that we are offering,” Al Shamsi declared.

He pointed out that although Etisalat has not began commercial operation in Nigeria, the telco has been working on the continent for a long time.

Etisalat International, he said, is the company’s business unit that operates outside the United Arab Emirate (UAE) and manages Etisalat ventures in telecommunications carriers in Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Gabon, Niger, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo and Pakistan among others.

“You have been to our stand and come across innovative services and ideas that we are looking forward to providing in Nigeria. Our participation in ITU Telecom Africa is to get the people better educated about our values and operations in addition to the valued services that we are offering,” he said.

Etisalat Nigeria, he said, is currently troubleshooting all the quality issues that could arise.

“We’re putting and rolling out the network in various cities of Nigeria so that we have greater coverage and we have better reach to the various ends of Nigeria,” he asserted.

Al Shamsi urged Nigerians to expect Etisalat services eventually at every end of the nation’s geographic representation and that is what the telco is presently concentrating on.

“We do not want to be motivated by early profit and launch prematurely and then face the quality of service issues. We are trying to manage all of these problems before we give the Nigerian consumer exposure to ourselves,” he said.

Stressing that with a better quality of service, which his firm is aiming at and aspires to operate in Nigeria, would be accompanied by deployment of the latest technologies that would offer the latest services with affordability and quality of service to customers.

“This is the strategy that we are utilising in every of our operation and that’s why we gained five million subscribers in 12 months operation in Egypt,” he said.

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QoS: MTN to reward subscribers

IN compliance with the recent directive by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), instructing some telecommunications operators to reward customers for substandard services, which also was a subject of litigation, MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, has concluded plans to reward the affected subscribers, reports CHARLES OKOH.

MTN said beneficiaries would be those who have remained active in its network as at January 31st, 2008 to the tune of a minimum N175.00 free airtime credit beginning from May 28, 2008.

Chief Executive Office of the telco, Mr. Ahmad Farroukh, in press statement made available to Champion Infotel, said the reward is in appreciation of the loyalty, understanding and patronage by its customers.

According to Mr. Farroukh, “in consultation with the NCC we shall be disbursing the airtime credit over a period of six weeks with effect from 29th of May, 2008,” adding that notwithstanding the differences early had with the NCC over the directive, MTN recognizes that loyal and dear customers who have faithfully stayed on its network through both easy and difficult times deserved to be rewarded.

“We are extending the reward at a time when we are confident that the network can accommodate the expected upsurge in network utilization that would result from the reward airtime credit,” Farroukh said.

The CEO also outlined actions already taken in the last nine months to expand its network capacity to enable it deliver a quality of service that will meet and exceed the expectation of all its subscribers.

Some of these he said, are installation of 23 new base stations controllers; upgrade of 2,200 base stations across the country; raising its switches and base stations to 63 and 444 respectively.

Others are, installation of 18,218 additional trans-receiver units making a total of 56,348; up grade of Home Location Registers (HLRs) to provide capacity for additional 14 million subscribers across the network among others.

It will be recalled that during a working visit by the Senate Committee in charge of communications led by Senator Sylvester Anyanwu, recently, the CEO had promised that efforts were on to further improve the telcos services by June, 2008.

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ATCON, GABI join forces against corruption in telecom

THE Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) in conjunction with Global Academy Bloc International would play host to the first Global Economic and Financial Crimes Control and Eradication Conference (GEFCEC) telecommunications stakeholders’ conference on corruption from June 10-12, 2008 at the Muson Centre, Lagos, reports CHARLES OKOH.

The three-day conference tagged Corruption Management in the Nigerian Telecommunication Sector, according to the organisers is aimed at forming a bloc of leadership interested in learning the contemporary methods to control and eventually eradicate “Economic and Financial Crimes” especially in the developing nation of the world.

A press statement made available to Champion Infotel, said the conference is for the management of all telecommunications companies in the country, two key heads of information technology (IT) departments of all banks, IT heads of departments of micro-finance banks; departments of all insurance companies; information relations officers and IT heads of all government parastatals.

Others are commissioners of information in all the 36 states and Abuja, Nigerian Communications Commission; Independent Corruption Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

According to the statement, some of the guest lecturers are, Senator Ken Nnamani, former Senate President, who would be speaking on “Legislation and Policy Implementation as key factors to eradicating corruption, Chairman of ICPC who would be speaking on “The corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 and its effect on Corruption Control while the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ernest Ndukwe would dwell on “The Positive role of regulation in the global Information Communication Technology (ICT) environment’ just as Transparency International, World Bank and International Telecom Union are expected also to send representatives to the conference.

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Galaxy Plc gets ministerial applause

0For taking part in the just concluded 2008 edition of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)-organised Telecom Africa which held in Egypt, Galaxy Backbone Plc has received a ministerial applause.

This applause was proclaimed during the event held at the Cairo International Convention Centre, Cairo, Egypt by the Minister of Information and Communication, Mr. John Odey who visited Galaxy stand at the Nigerian exhibition area.

ITRealms Online recalled that Galaxy Backbone Plc participated in the 2008 edition, which took part between May 11 and 15, this year as strategic partner of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Nigeria pavilion.

The presence of Galaxy Backbone at the continental event, Mr. Odey said, underscores the determination of the company’s leadership to appreciate Federal Government’s assurances to achieving its Vision 2020; a programme of collective multi-sectoral economic growth designed to position Nigeria among the league of 20 most robust and vibrant economies in the world by year 2020.

According to him, by leveraging innovative developments in ICTs for the socio-economic development of the country, this vision could be achieved.

Earlier, while welcoming the minister to the stand, accompanied by the Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, and officials of the Nigerian Embassy in Egypt, the Managing Director of Galaxy Backbone Plc, Mr. Gerald Ilukwe noted that the continental event provided the firm an opportunity for Galaxy Backbone Plc to showcase its value proposition as an agent of change.

He also told the ministerial team that with the increasing pace of development of ICTs on the continent, Galaxy Backbone is ready to play a pivotal role in delivery of the ICT benefits for the imperatives of efficient governance and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that would enable digital inclusion of underserved communities and hard-to-reach areas of the country.

Ilukwe used the opportunity to explained to the concept of Galaxy Backbone’s 1-Gov.net to the Minister, saying that as a common government–wide platform for the provision of network and other transversal services for the Federal Government through the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), as well as the reality of its NICEP Network which is a nation-wide network infrastructure platform for the delivery of e-education, e-health, e-agriculture and e-government solutions.

Also, Galaxy Backbone utilized the ITU forum as a platform for networking and securing partnerships with key ICTs personalities and institutions that attended the event.

Also, ITRealms Online recalls that Galaxy Backbone Plc is a public enterprise of the Federal Government that was established to provide a common platform for the provision of network connectivity and transversal services to the public sector.

GBB Plc also has the further objective of delivering connectivity and digital access that will enable relevant solutions to governance and other underserved communities and locations in Nigeria, whereas its currently deploying core infrastructure – satellite, terrestrial networks and data centre infrastructure to support connectivity and other IP services delivery.

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Finacle 10, nextgen banking solution

Management of Infosys Technologies has said that its recently unveiled Finacle 10 is the next generation solution for banking transformation, just as the firm has invested new funding to the tune of $60 million (about N7,062,000,000).

ITRealms Online recalls that Nigeria’s Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) is the sole marketer and implementer of Finacle countrywide and in English speaking West Africa.

Also of note is that currently leading financial institutions including First Bank Plc, UBA Plc, First Inland Bank Plc, Oceanic bank Plc, Spring Bank Plc, FCMB Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc and Kakawa discount house all run on Finacle.

While announcing the launch of Finacle version 10, recently the management of Infosys Technologies said the step was to reinforce its global leadership in banking transformation.

A press statement from CWG Nigeria endorsed by the Marketing and Corporate Communications Manager, Ms Morenike Popoola stated that the latest version is a highly sophisticated and advanced system that has been built with an investment of over 240,000 personnel.

She explained that this new version of Finacle would enable banks to transform their multi-country operations through a standard platform and processes.

“A set of over 5000 parameters and an enhanced scripting studio will deliver rapid product innovation,” she said, adding that the new version brings with it a whole new set of offerings including Islamic banking, wealth management; and an enhanced mobile banking solution.

Popoola also quoted a member of the board, Infosys Technologies Ltd, T.V. MohanDas Pai, as saying that the firm is strongly focused on banking and financial services , hence it has continued to make relevant investments in Finacle.

“Finacle is core to our growth strategy. We have invested over $60m in the last three years to build a state-of-the-art banking solution. Finacle Universal Banking Solution, integrated with Infosys services like SI, Consulting and BPO will offer global banks a truly differentiated transformation model,” Pai said.

The board member added that with Finacle version 10, Infosys is poised to address the key challenges of banking transformation. A technically strong solution with SOA, BPEL-enabled workflow and advanced security and compliance framework delivers significant improvement in productivity and greater readiness to manage security and regulatory challenges.

Business Head, Finacle, Haragopal M. noted that Finacle version 10 with its powerful multi-country infrastructure and transformational capabilities delivers increased productivity, rapid innovation and a comprehensive set of offerings to meet diverse customer demands. “Seven Tier-1 and Tier-2 banks around the world have already reposed their trust on Finacle, version 10 to power their domestic and international operations,” Haragopal said.

Noting that as a leader in banking transformation, Finacle has a global footprint across 60 countries and has been acknowledged by top analysts including Gartner, Forrester and Celent among the leaders in the core banking solution space.

“Finacle is also the winner of a series of awards for its innovation and implementation capabilities, the most notable ones being The Banker Technology Award and The Asian Banker IT Implementation Award,” asserted Haragopal.

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