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Jonah Iboma MTN Nigeria has recorded the recovery of $60m from revenue leakage, using ACL audit software. According to a report published by ACL, the world’s leading provider of revenue assurance systems and solutions, the recovery was made within one year of the deployment of the software.According to the document, a copy of which was made valuable to our correspondent on Monday, MTN Nigeria used ACL in its revenue assurance, audit, reconciliation and investigation activities.Revenue leakage is a problem prevalent in various industries especially where automated systems are used. Revenue leakage has blighted the telecommunications industry worldwide, stumbling some into collapse or suboptimal performance. Experts have reported that every telecommunications operators loses an average of 15 per cent of its annual revenue to various forms of revenue leakages. Examples include wrongly setting up a prepaid subscriber as post paid and billing system malfunction that sometimes give subscrib...

By Jonah Iboma MTN Nigeria and Globacom have announced the availability of commercial Third Generation mobile telephony services to subscribers. MTN said in a statement on Sunday that it would offer subscribers 3.5G services while Globacom announced in a statement on Monday that it would offer what it called 3G plus services. The Chief Executive Officer of MTN, Mr. Ahmad Farroukh, said the company’s 3G telephony would run on a High Speed Packet Access platform. Speaking at a media conference on Monday, Farroukh said HSPA was technically a mid-way between third-generation and fourth-generation mobile telephony. He said it was referred to technically as 3.5G and represented an advanced form of third-generation mobile telephony. Among the services that the technology will make available are video calling, television and video streaming, downloads on the go, and very high-speed Internet. He said that 3.5G services are much faster than ordinary 3G services as they offer download speeds of u...

Nigeria's leading Telecommunications company, MTN Nigeria has been declared the Best Federal Tax Responsible Corporate Citizen in Lagos State" by the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, CITN, in recognition of its exemplary compliance with federal tax laws. The award was presented to MTN by the Institute recently. Commenting on the award, Mrs. Amina Oyagbola, MTN's Corporate Services Executive stated that "the award once again demonstrates MTN'S commitment to discharging its responsibilities to government and adding value to society. As leaders in the telecommunications industry, we are determined to remain a benchmark of excellence not only in the provision of telecommunications services, but in the discharge of our social obligations" It will be recalled that only last June, the telecom operator was lauded for its stellar corporate citizenship when the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) presented MTN with the coveted award of "Best Corporat...

Swift Networks Nigeria says that the lack of adequate knowledge on the benefits broadband Internet access is a major limitation on the uptake of the service in Nigeria. The firm said based on this, it would commence a series of events to promote the technology. According to the Managing Director of Swift Networks, Mr. Charles Anudu, the firm will kick-start these events with a roadshow. Anudu said the reason for the roadshow was to enable subscribers have better understanding of how broadband could enable them work smarter, communicate better, learn faster and entertain better. He explained that broadband was often called high-speed Internet, because it usually had a higher rate of data transmission. He said, “In general, any connection to the customer of 256 Kilobits per second or more is considered broadband Internet”.

A wireless Internet network based on the WiMAX technology, has been installed in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State. WiMAX, the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunications technology that provides wireless data over long distances. The Yobe network, said to be the first in Africa, has a 30-kilometre radius wireless Internet that covers the whole of Damaturu. The entire project cost N831m. A statement on Monday on the project, stated that the Minister of State for Information and Communication, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki Nakande, inaugurated the project on Friday alongside a comprehensive ICT Resource Centre and computer ownership scheme for all civil servants in the state According to the state government, homes, offices and educational institutions in Damaturu can now connect to the Internet without any need for wires once they have the right computers The cost of connection would be less than 70 per cent of the cost of connecting to the Internet in other stat...

A wireless Internet network based on the WiMAX technology, has been installed in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State. Skip to next paragraph Photo fileInternet site WiMAX, the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunications technology that provides wireless data over long distances. The Yobe network, said to be the first in Africa, has a 30-kilometre radius wireless Internet that covers the whole of Damaturu. The entire project cost N831m. A statement on Monday on the project, stated that the Minister of State for Information and Communication, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki Nakande, inaugurated the project on Friday alongside a comprehensive ICT Resource Centre and computer ownership scheme for all civil servants in the state According to the state government, homes, offices and educational institutions in Damaturu can now connect to the Internet without any need for wires once they have the right computers The cost of connection would be less than 70 per cent of the ...

Nigeria’s leading telecommunications company, MTN, has received a new loan facility of US$2 billion from a consortium of 21 foreign and Nigerian banks and financial institutions. At a formal signing ceremony held in Lagos yesterday, Mr. Ahmad Farroukh, MTN’s Chief Executive Officer, reiterated MTN’s determination to continue to play a significant role in fostering Nigeria’s economic growth and development by providing excellent telecommunications and allied services across the country. According to Farroukh, “the loan represents a strong vote of confidence in our operation and our organisation. We see this as a demonstration of the confidence that particularly the Nigerian financial sub-sector has placed in MTN to deliver value to both our customers and the Nigerian economy with 80% of the facility being Naira denominated. We are also thankful to the millions of MTN customers across Nigeria whose loyal patronage has helped to make this possible. “ The $2 billion facility, said to ...

Celtel introduces new numbering plan Jonah Iboma Celtel Nigeria on Thursday announced the introduction of a new Mobile Access Code 0708. The introduction of the new code, which will enable the network to connect and cater for another 10 million customers, adds to the company’s existing number access codes (0802 & 0808) Celtel said the development was an indication of strong subscriber preference for its brand and services. New access codes are allocated to operators by the telecommunications regulatory authority when they are on the verge of exhausting their current numbering plan or when they foresee large demand for their services in the future. Mobile phone numbering codes with a seven digit suffix (0708xxxxxxx) offer 10 million lines to operators and these could be used for pre-paid and post-paid customer lines, special codes and emergency numbers. Celtel said in a statement that the codes have been approved by NCC. IT said, “This addition to our numbering plan has been approve...

By Jonah Iboma The Nigerian Communications Commission has cautioned GSM operators in the country to improve on quality of services offered to subscribers before the end of September or be ready to refund airtime to subscribers. In separate letters dated September 19, 2007 and published on its website with the title Notice of Intention to Issue Direction, NCC said it intended to act in accordance to its powers as provided in section 53 of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003. According to the telecoms industry regulator, the move becomes necessary due to continued complaints by subscribers on the poor quality of services being offered by these networks and losses resulting from it. The NCC said if the poor services continued, it would enforce the sanction on the operators as from October 1, 2007. The letters read in part, “The commission is still being inundated with complaints from subscribers on the issue of poor and unacceptable level of quality of service on the networks of mobile ...

Nigeria‘s Telecommunications industry may be heading for another controversy following moves by the Lagos State Government to withhold approvals to operators who wish to build new base stations. Announcing the decision, the General Manager of the Lagos State Infrastructure Management and Regulatory Agency, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, said it was based on the need to protect people‘s lives and the environment. He said that the 2,000 odd base stations already existed in the state were enough, bearing in mind that issues had been raised concerning the possible negative impact of mobile telecommunications infrastructure and terminals on people‘s health. Subscribers may be the ones to suffer the impact of this move as already exemplified in Abuja, where attempts by the Federal Capital Territory Administration to force operators to install their infrastructure based on its own terms backfired. This led to the suspension of expansion work on telecommunication infrastructure in the city for close to two ...

The Chairman of Zinox Technologies Limited, Chief Leo Stan Ekeh, has said that Z-scop, the firm’s new initiative, is designed to prepare students educated in Nigeria to compete with their counterparts elsewhere in the world. Speaking in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos, Ekeh said the lack of computer skills was the main reason for the complaints that Nigerian students were not well educated. He said this led Zinox to design the scheme to enable students own computers and also to have some additional applications to aid learning. He said Z-scop would make both laptops and desktops available to students using the latest technology, including bluetooth, which allows for mobile Internet connection, The Z-scop computer acquisition scheme allows students to acquire computers under concessionary payment terms. A student who purchases one and makes full payment gets a 10 per cent discount. However, the scheme allows for payment to spread over six and 12 months. Zinox said it planne...

Nigeria’s Second National Operator, Globacom, has pledged to continue to focus its resources towards providing better services to its rapidly expanding subscriber base. This pledge was given on Thursday by the Managing Director of Gloworld, Mrs. Shade Boyede, at the opening of the 37th Globacom retail shop, Gloworld in Ketu, Lagos. She said that the shop was opened to give the people of the area the opportunity to access Glo services at a convenient location near them. The opening of the shop, she added, was in line with Globacom’s vision of making each outlet a one-stop shop for the subscribers communication needs. She said that Gloworld had also generated employment for over 200 Nigerians, who manned shops spread all over the country. The personnel in these shops, Boeyede explained, were trained to handle the sales of Glo products, sim cards replacements, retrieval of wrongly-scratched recharge cards, phone and laptop configurations. The Onikosi of Ikosi, Oba Alamu Oloyede Kehinde, w...

Nigeria’s Second National Operator, Globacom, has pledged to continue to focus its resources towards providing better services to its rapidly expanding subscriber base. This pledge was given on Thursday by the Managing Director of Gloworld, Mrs. Shade Boyede, at the opening of the 37th Globacom retail shop, Gloworld in Ketu, Lagos. She said that the shop was opened to give the people of the area the opportunity to access Glo services at a convenient location near them. The opening of the shop, she added, was in line with Globacom’s vision of making each outlet a one-stop shop for the subscribers communication needs. She said that Gloworld had also generated employment for over 200 Nigerians, who manned shops spread all over the country. The personnel in these shops, Boeyede explained, were trained to handle the sales of Glo products, sim cards replacements, retrieval of wrongly-scratched recharge cards, phone and laptop configurations. The Onikosi of Ikosi, Oba Alamu Oloyede Kehinde, w...

Local information technology firms may continue to play second fiddle to foreign ones except they come together to tackle their challenges, stakeholders have said. They spoke at one-day IT Chief Executives summit organised by the Information Technology (Industry) Association of Nigeria in Lagos on Friday. According to the forum, some areas where industry stakeholders need greater collaboration, is in the production and branding of locally-made computers and software. According to the Managing Director, Connect Technologies, Mr. Chris Uwaje, local computer makers need to reduce the number of activities that make up their production processes and outsource others. He said, “Nigerian Original Equipment Manufacturers are doing several jobs together. This includes design, analysis, coding, testing, documentation and marketing. This should not be so.” He said this situation called for them to specialize and farm out responsibilities to others so that they could become better in such areas. T...

Investment in undersea telecommunications transmission cables is expected to hit over $1.4bn with the emergence on Monday that a Nigerian firm, Mainstreet Technologies is to build its own undersea cable at a cost of $300m. The project, which is conceived to rival SAT-3, a transatlantic transmission system sponsored mainly telecom incumbents in 36 member investment groups led by Telkom of South Africa in one of the new cable projects that have come on board since 2001. The project called MaIN OnE, is coming on the heels of four others namely Glo-1, which is costing $150m, the East African Submarine System, which is costing $200m and - The East African Marine System, which is also costing $150m. The $600m investment in SAT3 fibre, (whose full acronym is SAT3/WASC/SAFE) and goes from Portugal to South Africa, and moves out across the Indian Ocean to Asia is still the biggest. The cable system is divided into two sub-systems, SAT3/WASC in the Atlantic Ocean with landing points in several W...

Zinox Technologies Limited has announced a new scheme that would make 100,000 computers available for purchase by students in Nigerian schools at concessionary prices. Chairman of Zinox Technologies, Chief Leo Stan Ekeh, said the scheme known as Z-scop, would put laptops and desktop computers with the latest technologies for acquisition by students from primarily schools to university level. Speaking at a press conference in Lagos on Tuesday, Ekeh said the scheme had become necessary in view of the fact that many Nigerian students were still lacking access to computers despite the fact that this was basic in today's business and education lives. He said the project was possible due to special agreement with Intel and Microsoft for the processors and operating systems that drive the computers. He said Z-scop was exclusive to Zinox and laptops to be sold would be introduced slightly below N100,000 per unit. He explained that Z-scop would particularly benefit the country's educati...

That Nigeria has continued to pay lip service to information technology education and development is no news to anyone familiar with the sector in the country. This is exemplified by the fact that the government failed to provide the needed legal recognition to the agency it set up to develop the sector, despite an avowed claim that it wants to use technology to grow the economy. The situation is even more laughable when one considers that Nigeria also said it wanted to rival the likes of India and China and become a leading economy in the next twenty years. Let it be stated that this desire cannot be accomplished if current level of neglect of information technology continues. But Nigeria’s desire to become a leading global economy is not the main issue for discussion today. The main issue is on bringing computers and computer education to schools. The need to discuss this subject had become necessary after a recent announcement by Tunisia that it would give broadband internet connect...

Just barely a week after it emerged that an American firm, Herakles, is to build another East African communication cable, South African Communications Minister, Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, has caused the project to be stopped. This follows announcement that no undersea cable will be allowed to land in the country and provide cheaper broadband unless local or African investors have majority shareholding. The unexpected development has prompted Herakles to pull out of building its proposed East African cable. Analysts are looking at the development as another missed opportunity for Africa to have access to cheap internet bandwidth and a reliable transmission system. The South African move is designed to get EASSy (East African Submarine System) to fall into line with the NEPAD Protocol, of which the South African Government has been the strongest supporter. However, the move is being seen by many as an attempt by a few firms and countries to foist their desires on other in the continent. Bef...

A Nigerian firm, Mainstreet Technologies, plans to build an undersea optic fibre cable to compete with SAT-3. SAT-3 is a transatlantic transmission system sponsored by telecoms incumbents, led by Telkom of South Africa. Our correspondent gathered on Monday that the project would cost $300m. The firm plans to complete it ahead of others currently under construction. This will make it the first alternative source of underwater transmission to SAT-3. Mainstreet has Ms. Funke Opeke as its Chief Executive Officer. She was until recently the Chief Operating Officer of the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited. Known as MaIN OnE, the cable seeks to connect 12 countries, including Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria (Lagos and Port Harcourt), Gabon, the DRC and Angola. The firm said there was an option to extend the cable to South Africa if there was a change of attitude to external operators by the government of the country. “We’ve been a little disappointed with...

Globacom, Nigeria ’s second National GSM Operator, has won the 2007 Fortune and Class Enterprise Awards. The company which recently celebrated its fourth anniversary, was named winner in the award category of Employer of Choice Award at a ceremony held at Eko Hotel and Suites last Sunday. The award ceremony was organised by Fortune and Class, a business focus monthly magazine. In a letter to Globacom, the coordinator of the Awards Committee, Niyi Akinsiju, disclosed that the award “measured learning/personal improvement opportunities, compensation (fringe benefits/perks), employee pride, competition/non-employee envy and aspiration.” Other criteria include management sensitivity, welfare, health and safety, remarkable corporate image and long-term goals. Akinsiju said that winners emerged from a poll of readers of the magazine conducted in August. The 2007 edition is the second of the annual awards initiated last year to promote excellence in corporate organizations. The Employer of Ch...

Hewlett Packard has introduced new media relationships and products that feature elegant designs for everyone from consumers to IT professionals. The firm said in statement on Friday that its new business product line-up featured various designs and sheer performance across business desktops, notebooks, workstations and displays. The products comprise new business computers which have eye-catching design and with optimal performance in virtually any business environment — across business desktops, notebooks, workstations and displays. The firm said a formal inauguration took place at an evening gala on the eve of New York ‘s illustrious Fashion Week, where the company hosted an audience of nearly 1,000 industry influencers, partners, customers and other notable personalities.

Nigeria has recorded consistent growth in Internet penetration in the last six years with the number of users in the country reaching over five million in 2006 compared to a mere 200,000 in year 2000. The development, which represents over 2,400 per cent growth in users, makes Nigeria the fastest growing in Africa as against a continental average of 640 per cent The Chief Executive Officer of Setlin.com, Mr. Eric Amagada, who stated in Lagos on Friday, said that the development confirmed the prevalent role of the Internet in modern life and its impact on channelling consumers’ preferences for the future. Amagada, who spoke at a retreat organised by the Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks, said that the Internet had become a central communication medium today as organisations seek to impact on their future markets, retain and grow successive generations of loyal customers Delivering a lecture titled, Internet Publicity and Branding Strategy for Banks he said, “The Interne...

Various corporate organisations in Nigeria have rated New Horizons’ Information Technology Infrastructure Library training high. New Horizons has trained the staff of many organisations in Nigeria, including UAC, Nigeria Bottling Company, Tractor & Equipment, Diamond Bank, FCMB, First Inland Bank, UBA, Schlumberger and CELTEL. Participants commended New Horizons on the quality of content used, the conducive learning environment, and the high quality of instructors who facilitated the training. They also attributed their excellent results at the ITIL exams on the training they received from New Horizons. ITIL is a globally accepted best practice in service management, with large and small users in both public and private sectors. It gives a detailed description of a number of important IT practices, with comprehensive checklists, tasks, procedures and responsibilities which can be tailored to any IT organisation.

Digitplus Limited has signed a new pact with Taiwanese firm, Twinmos Technology for the unloading of different suites of hardware solutions. Twinmos is a sole Nigerian partner is to meet the need of corporate players in West Africa’s biggest technology market. With offices in Abuja and Lagos, Digitplus has in the last seven years, been a major provider of computer solutions to government institutions, embassies, private sector companies including banks and educational institutions. The firm said a number of bundled partnerships with other major players in Asia and the Middle East such as Golden Systems of Iran and Dubai based Hadian General Trading had helped it to expand the market for Gigabyte and Axper motherboards particularly in Abuja and other northern cities. “Our new partnership will help us to consolidate on our presence in the market where we have maintained a large list of satisfied customers in the last seven years,” said the CEO of Digitplus Mr. Oladapo Esomojumi. “We have...

Jonah Iboma In Grahamstown , South Africa Herakles Telecom, a United States of America -based Telecommunications Company is to build an East African Submarine cable, an official of the Africa Progressive Communications has said. Coura Fall, Information Communication Technology Policy Advocacy Officer, APC, said the cable to be known as SEACOM will operate a 13,000 submarine fibre optic cable along the east coast of Africa and through the Red Sea. He said “Herakles Telecom is to build the SEACOM marine cable along the East Coast of Africa whose work is to be completed by the year 2009 at a cost of $300m.” At a presentation at the ongoing Highway Africa Conference on South Africa, Herakles said, the cable, would compete with two other cables currently under construction- the Kenyan government-sponsored The East Africa Marine System (TEAMS) and the East African Submarine System (EASSy). When completed, it will connect major urban centres of Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania and Sout...

There were indications on Monday that Vodafone's bid to gain control of Vodacom of South Africa has been hit by local political opposition and wrangling over the sale price. Telkom, which jointly owns Vodacom with Vodafone confirmed last week that it was holding talks with Vodafone about a possible sale of its stake in Vodacom, for a price reported to be worth £5 bn. However, Times Online suggested in a report that the deal may not see the light of the day due to the huge political ramifications it would have. First problem that the deal could run into is that the proposal by Telkom to sell off its fixed-line assets to the MTN Group. Analysts believe that the move to sell its fixed-line as well as its mobile assets would reshape South Africa's telecoms industry and even the continent as it would spell the end of Telkom and create a new national and possibly a continent champion in the form of the enlarged mobile/fixed-line giant MTN. The planned deal is expected to trigger stro...

Who is a journalist? What is journalism? Is every one involved in journalism qualified to be called a journalist? Does online information dissemination qualify a person to be called a journalist? These were some of the burning questions that lifted up the opening session of the Highway Africa 2007 conference on Monday. At the Eden Grove Red Lecture Theatre, discussants drawn from across the continent were very vocal in pursuing their positions on who should be called a journalist and what journalism was about. Asked to define what journalism is, Robert Kabushenga of the Uganda's New Vision newspaper said it involved the delivery of stories to the public in a professional way. According to him, journalism is a profession requiring specific skills to be used to achieve this professional delivery of information to the reading public. Commenting, Thabo Leshilo of the Sowetan, South Africa, countered this position, saying that rather than an exclusive profession like that of the Medical...

The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria is to petition the Attorney General of the Federation, the Inspector General of Police and some other government agencies over plans by the Lagos state Government to stop the erection of new telecoms base stations by telecoms operators. Chairman of telecoms group, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, said in a media briefing that the move by the state government to sanction operators amounted to regulating the telecoms sector, an action he noted, was beyond the state responsibilities. He also said the move was in contravention of earlier ruling of the Federal High Court which had stopped attempts by any state government from embarking on such an exercise. The ALTON statement was a reaction to an address by the Lagos State Infrastructure Management and Regulatory Agency, on Wednesday in which it said that about 2,000 base stations already existing in the state were enough. The General Manager, LASIMRA, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, said the state w...

Jonah Iboma, Lagos The Lagos State Government has imposed a ban on the erection of more telecom base stations in any part of the Lagos metropolis. The Lagos State Infrastructure Management and Regulatory Agency, which issued the directive on Wednesday, said that about 2,000 base stations already existing in the state were enough, bearing in mind the safety of the people and the need for the preservation of the environment. The General Manager of LASIMRA Mr. Joe Igbokwe, who announced this in a media conference in Lagos, said that even if there would be need for erection of base stations in the developing areas of the state, telecom operators wishing to do so, must obtain necessary approval. He added that given the situation in Lagos, the time had come for operators to take the issue of collocation and infrastructure sharing seriously so that both their services and the subscribers could have the best in terms of telecommunications services. He said, " I want to charge our mega tel...

Jonah Iboma The International Data Corporation has raised its forecast of the number of mobile phones to be sold in Nigeria in 2007, predicting that users will buy a total of 14.5 million phones this year. IDC had said it expected the market in 2007 for mobile phones to reach 12.3 million. In the report it said it expected over 10.5million new GSM phones to be sold, while imported refurbished phones and CDMA phones would add another 1.7 million for a total market of 12.3 million. This figure, IDC said in its Nigeria Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, Q4 2006, “will make the Nigerian market the largest in Africa, exceeding that in South Africa for the first time.” However following recent developments, IDC said the market had witnessed unexpected boom of mobile phone sales in the second quarter of 2007 and as such would result in the increase in sales figures for the year. The global business intelligence research firm, according to data made available to our correspondent, said it expecte...

The former Vice- President, Nigerian Society of Engineers, and a consultant to the Nigerian Communications Commission, Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu, highlights the motives behind the establishment of a free e-magazine, in this interview with Jonah Iboma Cyberschuul news has become an industry reference as an electronic news bulletin for the Nigerian telecoms and IT industry. How did it begin? The conception of CyberschuulNews dates back to the deregulation of the telecoms industry in Nigeria. It was an activist's response to support and promote deregulation and to assist investors from the perspective of private sector initiative and innovation outside the domain of government. You will agree with me that one of the key objectives of telecoms deregulation is to attract investments to the sector. The critical need of every investor is information. CyberschuulNews was conceived to publish industry information in a manner that would service investors. Useful information is indispensable...

Jonah Iboma Subscribers have applauded the Blackberry services being offered by Globacom.According to a statement released by the firm on Thursday, users who spoke on the impact the product on their personal and business activities, noted that the device had become a very important part of their lives. The Head of Legal, BGL Limited, Mr. Billy Odum, said the Blackberry from Glo had helped to transform him. He disclosed that he once ran into the Pulitzer Prize winner, the Nigerian-born Dele Olojede at the airport and that even though the name rang a bell, he did not have details about the personality he was meeting. His Blackberry from Glo became a handy tool to search for details about the journalist. That, he said, helped him to maintain a robust conversation with Olojede. Odum confessed that unlike other executives who carried several phones around, he depends only on his Blackberry for his voice and data communication and had found it very reliable. He said he had been spreading th...

Jonah Iboma Samsung has overtaken Motorola for the first time to become the world’s second largest handset vendor, according to a research from Strategy Analytics.The technology research firm said global mobile phone shipments grew by 11 percent year-over-year, to reach 258 million units in the second quarter of 2007. The report noted that in the period under review, Samsung shipped 37.4 m mobile phones while Motorola shipped 35.5, a decrease of about 10m phones when compared with shipments done in first quarter of the year.Nokia, however continues to maintain a leadership in the market with shipment of over 100million mobile phones in the second quarter. This helped the firm increase its market share from 36.9 to 39.1per cent.With the 35million phones shipped in the second quarter, Samsung now has a 14.5 per cent market as against 14.1 per cent. Motorola, which had a 184 per cent share in the first quarter dropped about five points to end the period with a 13.8 per cent share of the g...

Jonah Iboma Chris Ekeigwe,Managing consultant, EDP Audit and Security Associates, has revealed that computer errors can cost banks billions of naira annually principally because they are largely undetected. Speaking to newsmen on the scheduled training on Bank Revenue Assurance with Digital Data Analytics for August 24-27. 2007, at EDP Tecknowledge Education Center, in Lagos, he stated that, “no amount of testing will guarantee that computer programs will work perfectly as specified. There is always some residual risk. The solution lies in continuous post implementation testing and assurance”. Stop-go control measures are not suitable for Nigeria’s high technology banking environment;, he added. He lamented that most top managers, unfortunately simply think that once the user acceptance testing (UAT) is done and signed-off the computer will work as proven, as desired. Ekeigwe revealed that the Nigerian banking industry loses billions of naira every year due to unaccountable comput...

After years of delay, the Federal Government last month assented to a bill giving legal backing to the National Information Technology Development Agency. JONAH IBOMA examines the implication of this in Nigeria’s quest for IT development . Information Technology is recognised globally as a means of ensuring quick development in the developing world. This is exemplified by the achievements of India, China where expertise in software and hardware aspects of IT brought about economic boom. In recognition of this, Nigeria established a unit in the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology to oversee the process of implementation of a blueprint on IT growth in Nigeria. The unit was founded in April 2001 and named the National Information Technology Development Agency with the late Prof. Gabriel Ajayi, as pioneer director general. Government had earlier gathered some IT experts who developed an IT Policy for the country. Part of the objectives of NITDA were to ensure the implementation of t...

Jonah Iboma Information Technology solutions firm, Cisco and Redington said they have entered an alliance tom open up the Nigerian resellers’ market estimated to be worth over N100billion. The firms said on Tuesday that the nveiling of the alliance recently in Lagos signals the beginning of a new journey for resellers in Nigeria. Cisco, world leaders in networking for the internet, and Redington, the leading distributor in the Middle East and Africa Regions, signed the agreement in Lagos. With this, Redington will be availing the IT sector its immense skill, experience and market support programmes to radically transform the way solutions are delivered to the customer, increasing the value add to products and services. These market support programmes are essential in a rapidly growing market, where skills and other incentives are not widely spread, says Maduka Emelife, Managing Director of Cisco Nigeria. “Cisco has gone from an IT to a human company. This change opens up a lot of oppor...