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Jonah Iboma The Federal Government has been asked to withdraw and reassign idle commercially viable frequencies currently held by some organisations. The Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, said in an interview with our correspondent that the move had become necessary given the high incidence of firms holding such frequencies and doing nothing with them. Adebayo, who spoke in Lagos on Friday, noted that besides dormant private firms, government needed to review the unused frequencies allocated to some of its establishments. The call was informed by the fact that many fixed wireless firms licensed since 2003, have not utilised the resources allocated to them. In 2005, the then Minister of Communications, Chief Cornelius Adebayo, had threatened to push for the withdrawal of licences. Gbenga Adebayo, who is the General Manager of VGC Communications Limited, said it was not in the interest of the industry for the government to cont

Jonah Iboma Experts have predicted a bright year for Nigeria in the information technology sector in 2007, based on gains made in 2006. A cross section of stakeholders who spoke with our correspondent, said that accessibility to information technology tools would increase while mergers and acquisitions would thrive. According to the Principal Consultant of TC-QA Associates, Mr. Akinwale Akingbade, Nigeria could witness an “IT revolution” this year, if the gains made in the sector were sustained. Akingbade, who is an expert in software testing, noted that with greater understanding of IT, many firms and individuals would realise its importance and would increasingly adopt this in their businesses. He predicted the growth of the outsourcing services, saying that the dearth of expertise in certain aspects of the sector would make people to seek ways out of their problems. Also, speaking on the issue, the Managing Director of Kemson Concepts, Mr. Ben Aduli, predicted the growth of

Jonah Iboma National fixed wireless Operator, MTSFirst, has moved its network operations to a 3G Soft Switch platform, the first firm to do so in Nigeria The firm explained at a media briefing in Lagos on Friday that the migration to the new platform built by Huawei Technologies is to help improve its ability to deliver service to its customers and help in its overall expansion plans. According to MTS Chief Technology Officer, Mr. Abiodun Adeoye, the soft switch technology as an evolutionary transformation, has put MTS far ahead of competitors in the Private Telecommunications space. Adeoye said based on the new platform, MTS could now boast of having the needed flexibility to deliver more applications such as fax, broadband data, VoIP, Video streaming and many many more. ‘What we have brought on the MTS network is a cutting-edge technology which is set to revolutionize existing traditional technology in the country giving it greater capacity for more voice and data’, he said. He sai

Jonah Iboma Nigeria and Ghana are set to begin a pact in information technology following a visit by the country’s Deputy Minister of Communications, Honourable Benjamin Aggrey Ntim, to the Lagos factory of Omatek Computers. It was revealed at the visit that one of the areas of cooperation being explored by both countries is an exchange scheme that would see the training of higher institutions students from Ghana at Omatek factory in Nigeria. Already, Omatek computers had signed agreement with a number of Ghanaian Universities on the training scheme. Ntim, who was accompanied by several IT journalists from Ghana, noted that given the level of manufacturing activities going on in Nigeria in the hardware sector, as exemplified by the Omatek Computer factory, the long-desired use of local raw materials in IT products used in Africa had begun. During the visit, on Friday, Chairman of Omatek Computers, Mr. Fola Adeola, conducted Ntim round the factory, showing him the lines where speakers,

Leif Edwall is the Managing Director of LM Ericsson Nigeria Limited and Country Manager of Ericsson West Africa. In this interview with our Correspondents Jonah Iboma and Atser Godwin, he speaks about leading the biggest telecoms equipmwent manufacturer in West Africa What is your assessment of Nigeria’s telecom market? Telecom market in Nigeria is very hot. There has been tremendous growth since 2001. Prior to 2001, there were very few installed fixed lines, which gave GSM operators impetus to roll out aggressively. From about 400 000 total lines then, Nigeria is now well over 25 million. The expansion of the networks has been quite impressive. I foresee that there will be about 50 million telephone subscribers in Nigeria in the next two to three years. A lot of people have mobile phones in the urban areas. How do you think this service can be fast deployed to the rural areas? The technology is there for telecom to be deployed in the rural areas. But there must be a lot of good supp

Leif Edwall is the Managing Director of LM Ericsson Nigeria Limited and Country Manager of Ericsson West Africa. In this interview with our Correspondents Jonah Iboma and Atser Godwin, he speaks about leading the biggest telecoms equipmwent manufacturer in West Africa What is your assessment of Nigeria’s telecom market? Telecom market in Nigeria is very hot. There has been tremendous growth since 2001. Prior to 2001, there were very few installed fixed lines, which gave GSM operators impetus to roll out aggressively. From about 400 000 total lines then, Nigeria is now well over 25 million. The expansion of the networks has been quite impressive. I foresee that there will be about 50 million telephone subscribers in Nigeria in the next two to three years. A lot of people have mobile phones in the urban areas. How do you think this service can be fast deployed to the rural areas? The technology is there for telecom to be deployed in the rural areas. But there must be a lot of good supp

Jonah Iboma The Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission has announced plans to auction radio spectrum in the 1800 MHz, 3G and 450 MHz bands, in a move it says would precede its plans to award of new licences. The new licences will attract more investment into the communications market and encourage the deployment of advanced technology to continue the development of telecommunications in Nigeria. The commission in a statement signed by Head, Public Affairs, Mr. Dave Imoko, said the allocation of more spectrum will provide an opportunity to attract new operators intending to invest and launch telecommunications services in Nigeria. The telecom sector had for some time now awaited a release of information by the commission on how it intends to allocate frequencies for some services such as 3G and high-speed Broadband services that have been demanded “Importantly, the release of more spectrum supports the Government’s policy of improving access to communication services and extend

Jonah Iboma Mutichannel payment solutions provider, eTranzact, has linked Covenant University to the global financial system by installing all the payment options available on its platform at the University. This platform enables eTranzact cardholders to cash money at the newly installed Automated Teller Machine, even if they were from other countries and their account denominated in currencies other than the Naira. The ATM is powered by eTranzact Global payment platform, enabling cardholders to access the ATM and other services available at the University. The firm informed our correspondent that a formal ceremony had already been held to declare the ATM open last week. CEO of eTranzact, Mr. Valentine Obi, said the use of cards for payment for goods and services reduces the need for holding cash, enabling parents and other cardholders to keep track of their expenses, and reduce incidences of theft. “What we are witnessing here is the inauguration of a device that will enable cardholde

Jonah Iboma A new staff identity card, which would serve as a means of access control, a cash and ATM card among others functionalities, is to be issued to workers in the Federal Capital Territory soon. At a demonstration of the product in Abuja on Friday, Minister for the Federal Capital Territory, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, said the card christened General Multi-Purpose card is a pilot to the eventual introduction of a new national ID, which would have an extension of its features. El-Rufai said government moved for the new card due to the need to have a reliable way of identifying citizens uniquely adding that besides access control, the new card would also contain employment records of the carrier which would be used for payroll and other purposes.. He said, when eventually delivered, the new national ID card would serve as a driver’s license, and contain biometrics characteristic of the carrier which would be useful in the time of emergency as well as act as a debit card that can be us

Jonah Iboma The Chief Executive Officer of Celtel Nigeria Limited, Mr. Adebayo Ligali, has explained that the essence of the ongoing consumer promo, Win Your Dream, is to change the lives of its loyal subscribers by helping them realize the dream of a future designed by their desires. pan African mobile operator, Ligali who said this at the prize presentation ceremony for the first set of winners in the consumer promotion in Lagos on Tuesday, said two winners of N15 million each had emerged in the exercise He said, “today the lives of some of our customers here have already changed for the better forever and as they say, they have moved to another level with their winnings. Already, we have two Big Dream (N15million) winners-one from Kaduna and another from Lagos. Today is yet another day of promises fulfilled, of aiming high and of dreaming of a better life when you are connected to the network that not only cares about you but is with you for life”. The CEO announced that altogether;

Jonah Iboma American Information technology Firm, Sun Microsystems has intensified its move towards increasing acceptamce of its products in Nigeria and the entire West afriocan region with the announcemnet of plans to bring its The Sun Technology Update According to Group Marketing Manager of Channel IT, Mrs. Ladi Ekundayo, whose firm is Sun’s representative in Nigeria leading IT professionals across all sectors of the Nigerian economy will converge in Lagos, Nigeria for The Sun Technology Update on Tuesday, November 21st 2006. Nigeria’s equivalent of the internationally acclaimed Sun Tech Days, The Sun Technology update Event has the objective of expanding technical vision and working with IT in business organizations to convert innovation into real, sustainable customer value. This quarter’s session will address key aspects of IT infrastructure management and effective IT strategies to increase efficiency, availability and returns on business IT investments. Top Speakers from Sun Mi

Jonah Iboma BRIAN Integrated Systems Limited, one of Nigeria's certified indigenous system builders has unveiled a new laptop called "Brian Platinum" in what it said is part of steps towards the provision of products under the Computer For All Nigerians Initiative. The new introduction, according to the firm, runs on the latest Intel Pentium D Dual Core processor technology and contains an inbuilt 1.3 pixel Camera, Bluetooth and Infra Red functions Speaking during at the unveiling of the product on Saturday in Lagos, Managing Director of the firm, Mr. Tunji Balogun said the Brian Platinum laptop, apart from running on the Dual Core processor, has a minimum 60 gigabyte Hard Disk space, minimum of 512 RAM, Integrated 1, DVD I CD WR among other feature. Balogun said, "Today marks a significant milestone in the history of both our company and the computer industry in Nigeria. We are pleased to present our new Brian Platinum laptop (with integrated camera) and Brian Onyx

Jonah Iboma Celtel Nigeria Limited has introduced N50 recharge card option to the Nigerian market, the lowest recharge option today. The Marketing Director, Celtel, Mr. Norman Moyo, said the firm was also additionally introducing a N100 recharge denomination into the market. In a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday, Moyo said the new N100 recharge denomination would be available in both physical and electronic forms (as recharge cards and e-vouchers) while the N50 denomination would be available in electronic form only for now. Celtel also has lowered the entry level of GSM services by reducing the price of its SIM card from N300 to N200. The new price further lowers the threshold for the acquisition of mobile lines by intending GSM subscribers. In addition to this, all new activations still receive the bonus airtime of N100 on first recharge. Moyo said the move is aimed at giving more Nigerians the opportunity to get on the network and enjoy Celtel unique service offering includ

Jonah Iboma Nigeria may soon see the establishment of computers assembly firms by leading international IT brands in the country if plans by the Federal Government are anything to go by. Director General of the Agency, Prof. Cleopas Angaye, said that government was considering asking HP and IBM, to set up local assembly plants as pre-condition for them to get orders under the its Computer for All Nigerians Initiative. CANI is a government-sponsored scheme to promote computer penetration by a special arrangement that would allow people to own computers and pay over a period between three and 24 months. Speaking on Saturday in Lagos during the inspection of local assembly plants involved in the scheme namely, Brian Integrated systems Limited, Omatek Computer, Speedstar Computers and Zinox Technologies, Angaye said government was interested in taking the step in order to promote the growth of the local technology industry. Citing similar examples in India and China, the DG noted that thes

Jonah Iboma Electronic banking is set to continue its upward swing in Nigeria, as ATM Africa, the continent’s leading supplier of automatic teller machines, is to drive its West Africa business from Nigeria. The firm has therefore set up a regional office in Nigeria and also appointed two Nigerian firms: Channel IT and CFAO Technologies its distribution and technical partners respectively for the whole of the West African. Chief Executive Officer of ATM Africa, Mr. Douglas Gillan, said in an interview with our correspondent on Monday that his firm, the sole distributor of GRG banking products (ATMs) in Africa chose Nigeria due to the steady growth of card payment systems in the recent time and the potential available locally. According to him, the future of e-banking in Nigeria is very bright and such requires good focus. “I think that the Nigerian market presents a wonderful opportunity for the growth of ATMs. In my opinion, Nigeria will take the lion’s share in the number of ATMs to

Jonah Iboma Following the moves by authorities of the Federal Capital Territory to pull down the base Transceiver stations of mobile phone operators in the city over alleged non-compliance with its tax regulations, telecommunications operators have appealed to the Federal government to halt the move. Reacting to the destruction of fences and walls of cell sites otherwise called base stations in three locations in the city on Friday, the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria, said the move by the FCT administration was at variance with an earlier directive of the Federal Government which they claimed put matters concerning telecommunications in the “exclusive preserve of the Ministry of Communications and the Nigerian Communications Commission.” Chairman of the body Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, informed our correspondent the move by the FCT was to designed to make operators pay heavy taxes it unilaterally imposed on them and also to make them collocate against their will and with

Jonah Iboma The inclusion of an efficient systems audit function has been described as an essential ingredient for a successful implementation of the nation’s electronic government (e-government) project. Chris Ekeigwe, managing consultant at EDP Audit and Security Associates, who revealed this in Lagos recently said that the while e-government is a good way to improving services delivery to the citizens, without proper audit control there would not be stability in the system. According to him, audit control is a very key pillar of governance. There is no governance in the history of humanity that has actually stayed without a framework of accountability and audit is an important element in the enforcement of accountability whether you are doing manual accounting, manual information or computer information system. He added that audit is a very important leg, if you take out that leg, the table will not have balance. Ekeigwe lamented that all the talks going on about the e-government in

Jonah Iboma EDP Tecknowledge Education Center, the nation’s premier systems audit training center, has concluded plans to host the first national seminar and conference on electronic government (e-government) audit. The seminar scheduled for the first quarter of 2007, at the EDP Tecknowledge Education Center in Ojodu Berger in Lagos has the theme “Building information technology (IT) audit competence for government auditors”. Chris Ekeigwe, managing consultant at the center said that as governments adopt, deploy and exploit information and communications technologies (ICTs) to execute their programs, auditors would see changes and challenges in their work environment, top of which would be bridging the competence gap. He said8 building new capabilities for the audit challenge of e-government is a shared responsibility of the government (employer) and the individual audit professionals. The e-government seminar is an opportunity for audit officers and decision makers in government to sh