Winners emerge in MTN N1bn reward package

Winners have begun to emerge at the MTN Nigeria’s N1bn reward scheme in commemoration of its 10 years of operation in the country.

Some 10 lucky winners went home with 10 million naira each as MTN redeemed the pledge on the reward package.

The winners emerged from a draw that was carried out at MTN head office in the country penultimate Sunday.

Presiding over the presentation, the zonal co-ordinator of Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), Mr. Okechukwu Aninweke applauded the scheme and described as “impressive and exciting.”

“We have had ten years of GSM in Nigeria and many reward programmes have come and gone but this is the first time I am hearing of a one billion naira giveaway,” he said and therefore commended MTN for the level transparency of this reward programme.

He called on all telephone subscribers to go and register their SIM cards as required by the Federal Government Policy which is backed by an act of the National Assembly.

“The commitment of the Government and the importance attached to SIM registration is responsible for the huge budget allocation to NCC to execute the project. Our consultants and outsource partners are in all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria to ensure that all mobile telephone subscribers are given the opportunity to register their old SIM cards ahead of the September 28th 2011 closing date,” he said.

According to him, “we are driving the telecom sector; the operators like MTN are leading the pathway for the big revolution in telecommunications in Nigeria; for this I want to thank MTN for the Big Reward to the lucky winners.”

Presenting the cheques of N10 million each to three of the lucky winners; namely Oladapo Simeon, a UNILAG student, Gift Azubike a hairdresser in Ojota Lagos and Latifa Ogbeifun a computer science graduate, Mr. Aninweke commended MTN for taking such a giant step and urged subscribers who are yet to register their SIM cards to do so, stressing that a lot of resources have gone into the registration exercise and the only way to justify the initiative is for Nigerians to comply.

ITRealms Online gathered that 100 lucky winners also won N100,000 each.

Speaking at the first presentation ceremony, the Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Bola Akingbade, appreciated Nigerians, especially MTN subscribers for their unflinching loyalty to the brand over the past one decade.

“I stand here to thank you our valued customers for keeping faith with the MTN brand in the last 10 years. As the sector leader that we are and which we will continue to be, I want to thank our subscribers for been part of the MTN family,” he said.

Akingbade also commended NCC for providing the enabling environment through regulation which has translated into delivering quality service to Nigerians by MTN.

“We have set aside N1 billion for this reward scheme, in order to encourage our customers to register their MTN SIM cards. We are providing juicy incentives for them to do so, including the opportunity to migrate to our new value propositions which offer incredible value. Our customers must also recharge their phones with any amount,” he said. 

Remmy Nweke

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Etisalat unveils EasyBlaze on 3.75G network

Hakeem Bello, chairman, Steve Evans, CEO  and Director, Alhaji Bello Garba.

Acclaimed innovative mobile operator in the country, Etisalat Nigeria has unveiled its Easyblaze on the latest 3.75G network with coverage currently in 14 cities nationwide.

Chief executive officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Steven Evans, said that the mobile operator is unequivocal on its commitment to quality, customer focus and innovation.

According to him, Etisalat has become a household name that could not afford to beyond its overwhelming growing standard in three years.

He also said that Etisalat’s customer-centric ideology is an on-going challenge they are determined to keep the promise.

Etisalat, he said, has not been stagnant but innovative; hence it has achieved over 9 million subscribers within three years of operation.

“We have to differentiate ourselves from competition,” he said, adding that the launch of 3.75G network by Etisalat was another innovation record being set by the mobile company.

For chief commercial officer, Wael Ammar, the deployment of 3.75G from the hitherto 2.5G, was to up the stage for Nigerian telecom consumers.

As said by Wael, riding on Third Generation (3G) network would facilitate growth, increase access bandwidth and enable more diverse applications.

He noted that Etisalat is reputed to have commenced data services on the network across the country, stressing that in line with Etisalat’s commitment to delivery of quality services, that the network is migrating its services on 3.75G, which technologically commercial viable and available in the industry.

“This is the High Speed Packet Access technology. We have built an HSPA network with dual carrier technology capable of downloading speed of up to 42 Mega bytes per second (Mbps),” he said.

Ammar listed the 14 cities currently running the 3.75G to include Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Warri, Kaduna, Kano, Zaria, Enugu, Onitsha, Aba, Nnewi, Awka and Benin.

“We would be aggressively expanding the footprint across Nigeria over the coming six months,” he said.

He also disclosed that there would be a showcase of how the broadband services work on devices at Silverbird Galleria in Lagos, in partnership with industry giants to show customers what could be achieved on the network.

Further, he said, there would be series of experiential campaigns across all the HSPA-deployed locations to enable Nigerians to experience the latest network.

Etisalat’s promise, he said, is to continue to offer innovative and quality services to enhance our customers’ personal and business needs, just as he introduced the latest offering to the Nigerian market “EasyBlaze, the broadband that is finally faster than you.”

Speaking earlier, chairman of Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Hakeem Bello-Osagie recalled that his Emerging Market Telecommunication Service (EMTS) investment in a Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) license about six years after the introduction of GSM services in the country and at the time when millions of Nigerians were already holders of mobile phones.

Therefore, he expressed delight that three years after, Etisalat Nigeria has continued to record another milestone with the launch of its 3.75G HSPA+ network, the fastest 3G network in the country.

Remmy Nweke

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Nokia dangles N208.7m on developers contest

Mobile phone manufacturer, Nokia, has doled out the sum of 1 million Euros, about N208.7m for its application developers competition tagged create4millions contest.

Communications Manager for Nokia West Africa, Mr. Osagie Ogunbor informed ITRealms Online that it’s in living up to Nokia promise to connect the next billion to the internet using its platform.

One of the moves, he said, is to push for the development of quality applications for their S40 mobile platform, “And Nokia is doing just that.”

Ogunbor quoted the Head, Nokia’s Ecosystem Developer Experience (EDX) for West Africa Mr. Teemu Kiijarvi as saying that developers across the world stand a chance of winning a total of one million Euros, just by building applications and entering them for the competition tagged create4millions contest.

Kiijarvi said the deadline for the submission of applications for the contest is now November 1, adding that on the choice of the S40 mobile platform, he noted that it is the world’s largest mobile operating system and this aligns with Nokia’s strategy of connecting the next one billion people to the internet via mobile.

Nokia is challenging developers to submit apps on social networking, games and entertainment, life improvement as well as news and locally relevant information apps. The winners in the global competition will share one million euros in price money.

Also Kiijarvi disclosed that Nokia is running a local version of this competition and the best application from West Africa will receive a prize of $5000 and all the best three applications from West Africa will get an all-expense paid trip to Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona Spain to represent West African developers.

“There are also special prizes that will be awarded to apps showcasing the best touch feature in an app; the best location-aware app; and the best overall Series 40 web applications,” he said.

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Tara Systems joins MainOne customers

Leading Internet service provider and integrated computer solutions’ company, Tara Systems, has joined the number of growing customers of MainOne Cable.

According to the Head, Marketing and Strategy, Main One Cable Company, Mr. Adebayo Oyewole, in a press statement made available to ITRealms Online said that Tara System joined the clientele of MainOne to boost the firm’s services.

“The connection of Tara Systems is a reflection of the confidence that our customers and partners have in Main One’s broadband service quality,” he said.

He noted that by Tara Systems connection to MainOne network, it has shown the willingness to align itself with a platform that has experienced 100 per cent network availability since launch.

This, he said, further underlines the profile of MainOne as the preferred broadband capacity provider of choice in the country.

He added that the agreement offers Tara Systems an opportunity to leverage Main One’s capacity to deliver high quality internet experience to its clients and grow their bottom-line through improved service delivery, increase in customers acquired and opportunities to leverage other services that Main One has to offer such as collocation and disaster recovery services.

“In an era of increasing competition and customers’ demand for reliable internet connectivity, this agreement will enable Tara Systems position itself as a reliable service company and meet the specific needs of their customers” he said.

Main One’s service offerings, he pointed out, are customized to suit the specific customer demand with an eye on affordability.

“At Main One, we reckon that cost is one of the greatest hindrances to internet penetration in Nigeria. Therefore, we have developed cost effective packages and also implemented benefits for our partners that accrue to them as they increase capacity utilization on our platform,” he said.

Reaction, the Managing Director of Tara Systems, Mr. Seni Williams, described the partnership with Main One as a significant milestone for the company.

The agreement, he said, enable Tara Systems accelerate growth by delivering improved value to its customers.

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SIM card registration: Operators seek extension

Gbenga Adebayo, ALTON chairman

Barely 48 hours to the deadline for the on-going Subscriber identification Module (SIM) card registration in the country, telecom operators have requested for extension of the exercise between six and eight months.

The operators under the aegis of the Association of Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) made this known at a press conference in Lagos, last Friday.

The initial deadline for the exercise which commenced on February this year is September 28, 2011, which is a six-month duration.

Chairman of ALTON, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo said this has become imperative to ensure that majority of Nigerians register their SIMs.

Currently, he said, an estimated 50 per cent of the total subscriber-base has been registered.

“The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) wishes to inform you that the nationwide Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) registration exercise and the sale and activations of one way SIMs, which started on February 14th 2011, has so far seen the successful registration of over 50 percent of the total subscribers in the country,” he said.

According to him, the exercise has enabled telecom operators, with support from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), to capture relevant biometric data of subscribers which include full names, age and date of birth, occupation, business, postal and residential addresses, finger prints, portrait photographs and alternative numbers.

He pointed out that with the successes recorded so far, Nigeria is well on its way to having a comprehensive data base of telecommunications subscribers.

“This data base which is highly secured to protect the identities of subscribers, would serve as a very valuable resource that would enhance security and national planning in the Nigeria,” he said.

He noted that telecom operators have continued to engage in aggressive marketing campaigns to enlighten the public on the need to register their SIMs.

“ALTON members have also rolled out various rewards and incentive schemes designed to encourage and attract subscribers to register their SIMs,” he declared, stressing that ALTON also acknowledges the pivotal role the NCC and its leadership have played in this exercise without which these successes would not have been recorded.

Adebayo, who was accompanied at the briefing by some members of the ALTON Executive Committee, including the publicity secretary, Mr. Damain Udeh, Mr. Gbenga Onakomaiya and Secretariat Administrator, Mr. Gbolahan Awonuga among others, stated that whilst the exercise has recorded significant success up to now, “it must be mentioned that project has been beset with enormous challenges each one of which has had a significant impact on the outcome the exercise.”

These challenges, he highlighted to include but not limited to general logistics challenges like the ability of SIM registrations agents to access certain parts of the country, especially the hinterland and rural areas, the conduct of 2011 general elections in most parts of the country, the post elections violence, torrential rainfall and resultant devastating flooding in various parts of the country.

He said that there was a general lull in activities resulting from Christian lent and Muslim Ramadan during which a period of fasting and religious reflection was observed by millions of Nigerians.

Other challenges that negatively impacted on the progress of the exercise, he said, comprised of the heightened threats to security such as the spate of bombings across the country, ongoing violence and threat to lives in certain parts of the country and the general insecurity in many parts.

“These challenges have made it impossible to achieve a 100 per cent success rate within the period stipulated by the federal government,” he said.

Pointing out that even without these challenges, the deadline of the 28th of September 2011 is too short for a project as enormous as the SIM registration in Nigeria, a country with over 90 million telecoms subscribers.

Emphasising that in many other countries, especially on the continent, where the same exercise have been done, significant time were given to enable operators effectively conclude the exercise.

“For example, Malaysia with a total population of 27.5 million people took a total of 24 months to conclude the SIM registration exercise; while South Africa, with a population of about 50 million, took 18 months to register all subscribers. Other countries like Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Algeria and Ghana had their registrations exercises extended. Yet most of these countries have significantly lower population sizes and smaller landmasses than Nigeria,” Adebayo explained.

As the September 28 deadline, approaches, he said, ALTON wishes to call on the Federal Government and the NCC to extend the exercise to enable subscribers who are not registered to do so.

“The extension has become necessary in order to prevent a widespread panic and insecurity that will most likely occur if the estimated 50 per cent of subscribers that are not yet registered are excluded from the registration process,” he said.

In addition, he said, attempts to disconnect such a large number of subscribers would create last minute rush and consequently cripple the operators thereby causing a major systemic crisis.

As a result, ALTON, he said, made this call for an extension in the interest of public safety, national security, societal cohesion and the overall well being of the Nigerian subscribers.

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Odusan outlines benefits of switching to dot ng

Ope Odusan, NIRA COO

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), Mr. Ope Odusan, used the opportunity to list the benefits of switching to dot ng in this dispensation.

Some of these benefits, he said, include the fact that NIRA is mindful of the unique opportunity its country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) name presents, stressing that with dot ng, the nation’s country code assumes a global significance for many words by coupling of the TLD with any of the vowels of the English language, like in ‘Fishi.ng.’ 

He also said that NIRA intends to exploit these potentials to continue to make .ng a global registry irrespective of the entry of new gTLDs, adding that the uniqueness of the .ng ccTLD has seen firms like Google, Microsoft Domain Developers Fund taking up googli.ng; bi.ng to name a few, since the Second Level Domain Names were opened.

NiRA, he said, has deployed a robust Internet Domain Name System that would bring immense economic growth and vitality to the nation, maintaining that the organisation built a world-class Registry that Nigerians and their associates would gladly adopt as the TLD of choice.

“Our target to have 250,000 domain names registered in the .ng Registry will contribute N250 million annually to Nigerian economy,” he said.

According to him, NiRA has the potential to create over 50,000 jobs directly and indirectly, adding that it offers stable source of Foreign Currency for the economy, asserting, “Dot ng ccTLD is a platform for the Nigerian Internet Ecosystem.”

In the Internet ecosystem, he said, the online commerce, e-government Services, access to valuable information and knowledge would thrive in addition to a boost in academics through effective research resource and participation in distance learning programmes.

On the aspect of job creation, Odusan said that there exist some job avenues for the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) professionals, such as new generation of jobs like webmaster, content manager, and web developers.

The nation, he said, would witness the job creation by industry entrepreneurs and domain agents, which would spur job creation engine for local software application and content developers that is dot mobi.ng for mobile applications.

He explained that tax incentives for companies currently not using .ng domain to switchto .ng do exist, especially for unemployed graduates, underscoring the fact that stakeholders could market their skills beyond Nigeria via the internet and earn foreign income while at home.

Therefore, he urged Nigerians to take the saying that charity begins at home to heart with encouragement of the Federal Government and its institutions, through the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

Pointing out that FG should institute necessary government policies and mandates for .ng adoption to pave the way for what he described as “holistic approach to NiRA growth.”

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NSN unveils Liquid Net

Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has unveiled a new product tagged ‘Liquid Net,’ which is the company’s new way to deliver broadband.
 

Head, Network Systems at Nokia Siemens Networks, Mr. Marc Rouanne, said that Liquid Net allows an operator to set up its network to self-adapt to meet capacity and coverage requirements based on demand.

The new approach, he also said, aims at significantly improving the quality of broadband services worldwide.

“With Liquid Net, operators can unleash the full potential of their existing business assets and create new revenue sources,” he said.

As said by him, spectacular broadband growth means networks must be ready to cope with personal data consumption of more than 1 Giga Byte (GB) per mobile user per day.

“Demand is also highly unpredictable, fluctuating between locations at different times as people use broadband at home, at work and on the move,” he said.

Stressing that abrupt changes in broadband use could also occur when, for instance, new device software is launched or updates to popular applications and over-the-top services are released, leaving operators no time to prepare.

“Capacity in today’s conventional networks is typically frozen in separate places; at individual base station sites, in parts of the core network that manage voice and data services, or in the optical and IP transport networks,” he said.

Rouanne said each is a potential bottleneck to someone getting the broadband service they want at a particular moment, adding that fluctuating and unpredictable demand in one part of the network means huge chunks of capacity could be left idle elsewhere, making poor use of existing investments.

He gave an example, saying that as much as 50 per cent of a conventional core network’s capacity could be dormant.

He noted that instead, Liquid Net unleashes frozen network capacity into a reservoir of resources that could flow to fulfill unpredictable demand, wherever and whenever people use broadband.

He maintained that Nokia Siemens Networks has created Liquid Net to free-up unused capacity and allocate it instantly across the whole network wherever and whenever it is needed.

“Liquid Net uses automated, self-adapting broadband optimization to deliver services and content to ensure the best customer experience by always being aware of the network’s operational status and the services being consumed,” he said.

Additionally, Liquid Net channels traffic in the transport network along the path of least resistance and lowest cost between operator sites.

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Aba robbers made away with MTN recharge cards

The least may not have been heard of notoriety of the city of Aba as the leading telecommunications company in Nigeria, MTN Friday said a large quantity of its recharge cards have been stolen from the company’s premises in Aba, Abia State.

This came as the information of impending shutting of MTN services in Abia State still hovers following the persistence of the Abia StateInfrastructure Development Fund to force the telecom service provider to pay unrecognized levies.

The Corporate Services Executive, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Akinwale Goodluck confirmed this, saying that armed robbers last week broke into the company’s premises in the city of Aba, and made away with large quantity of recharge cards of various denominations.

Mr. Goodluck also said the company had responded immediately by de-activating the affected recharge cards from the network in line with standard operating procedure.

“As a result of this, any of the stolen recharge cards will no longer be accepted by the network,” he said.

Equally, ITRealms Online gathered that all the company’s Trade Partners in Aba and its environs had been duly notified so that they would be prepared should anyone attempt to sell any of the voided recharge cards to them.

“We wish to advise our numerous customers in Abia State and its environs to exercise caution when purchasing recharge cards. We urge our customers to seek out authorised MTN vendors so as to guide against picking up stolen and voided recharge cards,” he said.

Alternatively, MTN advised customers to consider recharging their phones through Virtual Top-up (VTU) platform, which even provides customers with five per cent discount for any amount of airtime purchased.

Further, Mr. Goodluck said the incident had been reported to relevant security agencies and apologized to MTN customers for any inconveniences the development might cause them.

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Johnson lists key characters for ICT growth

L-R Angaye, Mrs Omobola Johnson, Perm Sec, Juwah,Muri Baba

Minister of Communication Technology (MoCT) Mrs. Omobola Johnson, has outlined some key characters for the growth of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry.

Johnson who spoke at a stakeholders forum organized by her ministry in Lagos, said in her paper entitled “The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Industry in Nigeria: A Roadmap presentation at “Roundtable on Creation of a Digital Economy and Information Society in Nigeria” that the Nigerian ICT industry characteristics showed indicated a predominantly service-based industry that is distinguished by dominance of basic voice and data communication services provided by telecom companies, in particular mobile (GSM) operators.

According to her, the industry has limited manufacturing and assembly capabilities for ICT equipment and devices.

In addition, she said, these devices are predominantly sold by companies that have established channel partnership with global manufacturers, even as there are an increasing ‘grey market’ of ICT equipment, devices and peripherals.

“Delivery of content is mainly through conventional media such as television, radio and newspapers,” she said.

Equally, she noted that content delivery are mainly via the Internet and is limited but increasing internet penetration is low.

This, she said, is predominantly via mobile phones, and whilst international bandwidth capacity has improved terrestrial national capacity, thus lagging behind.

The Nigerian ICT industry, Mrs. Johnson said, has growth potential, opportunities for job creation, challenges, although there are some priority areas for intervention.

The nation’s ICT industry, she pointed out, is a predominantly service-based industry that is characterized by highly fragmented markets; exemplified by proliferation of small players with low-value offerings.

As said by her, the delivery of value added services such as network and systems integration is mostly for corporate customers that are comparatively few in number.

She emphasized that the manufacturing and assembly of hardware exhibits very low growth due to lack of essential support infrastructures which limit opportunities and raise entry barriers.

“Software development and the software industry in general, are under-developed due to paucity of skill despite a ready and untapped market,” she said.

Remmy Nweke

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