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Jonah Iboma Subscribers on MTN and Vodacom’s networks will soon have the privilege to carry their phones from one African country to another and still stay connected provided they have their networks present in the countries concerned. This follows the completion of plans by the two mobile phone firms to commence regional roaming across their networks in the continent. The service is expected to start from East Africa, according to MTN. The decision is coming on the heels of the commencement of the ‘One Network’ service by Celtel whereby its subscribers in East Africa can move freely between Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya without changing the sim cards in their mobile phones or paying heavy roaming charges. In details made available to our correspondent, MTN Uganda Chief Commercial Officer, Erik van Veen, said that the single network would be launched before the end of January. He was, however, hesitant to give details on how the system would work. MTN had signaled that it would do this du...

Jonah Iboma Covenant University, Otta, Ogun State is making forays into the Nigerian Telecommunications sector with plans to host an international conference on third generation mobile telephony services. The Nigerian Communication Commission, Huawei Technologies, Ericsson, Alcatel as well as Nigerian electronic payment firm, E-transact, are backing the institution’s efforts. According to the conference’s Chairman of the organizing committee Dr Victor Matthews, the objective of the conference, among other plans is to, “sensitize the academic environment of the new trends in mobile communication and computing; bring to the forefront, the positive implications of these emerging technologies, and their roles in national economy ; and bring together under one umbrella the telecommunication industries and the academics, in other to foster relationship for collaborative research in this important IT area.” The conference, titled "3GSM (3G) and Mobile Computing: An Emerging Growth Engin...

Jonah Iboma Nigeria stands to experience increased investment in the telecommunications sector if there is increased collaboration with the International Telecommunications Union, Minister of Communications, Dr. Obafemi Anibaba has said. Speaking in Kaduna at the opening of a workshop on the 2006 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, Anibaba, said Nigeria needed to improve local planning to explore various areas where there can be cooperation with ITU. Anibaba said, “With good planning, Nigeria will certainly benefit in the areas of assistance and advice, investment opportunities training and manpower development. He added that other areas of benefits include the development of Telecommunication/ICT sector, reaching out to the un-reached and underserved with Telecommunication/ICT and Technical Partnership The Plenipotentiary conference of the ITU is the top policy-making body of the specialised United Nations agency. Held every four years, the conference sets the Union’s general policies, a...

Jonah Iboma One of the notable developments that took place in the Nigerian telecom sector towards the end of 2006 was the acquisition of VGC Communications Limited, by mobile phone giant, MTN Nigeria. In a deal worth a little over $65m, MTN completely bought the both the operations, assets and liabilities of the national unified licensee firm owned by the Globe Holdings Group which boasts of other businesses in construction, telecom and the hospitality sectors. With the takeover, which was concluded after some lengthy discussions, MTN had effectively entered the fixed wired-line services market where VGCCL specialises with notable presence in the three most economically important cities- Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt. Besides marking one of the highest takeover deals among local telecom firms, the acquisition is viewed by many as a pointer to what the telecom sector would experience in the country this year and in the near future. Industry experts have predicted that there be increas...

Jonah Iboma In an apparent show of acceptability of the network, over twenty thousand people turned out in Gboko, Benue State and Bomadi, Bayelsa State to welcome a team of offcials of Globacom on a nationwide coverage campaign entitled, “We Live Where You Live” The firm said although Globacom it was yet to switch on its base station in Gboko, the ecstatic crowd was full of expectation and praises for the network. It said a spokesperson for residents in the city, Mr. Ior Vincent, “we are conversant with your services in neighbouring Katsina-Ala, Zaki-Biam and Vandekiya and we know the difference. We compare it with the epileptic service that we experience here with other networks. Sometimes, those networks are down for two weeks or more. We have seen that your network is ready, please could you switch it on,” they told the Glo team.” In Bomadi, a riverine town in Bayelsa state, Globacom said the entire town trooped out to welcome the Glo team. In Kokori town, the elders of the village ...

Jonah Iboma Starcomms has slashed its Internet subscription rates. The reduction is to enable more subscribers have access to the Network’s Internet services. The access rate on the CDMA 1X Surf Always (24/7) has been slashed from N15,000 to N10,000 while the Surf Business (9am – 9pm) is now N7,000 and Surf Night (9pm – 9am) goes for N5,000 only. This novel flexible tariff regime is a golden opportunity for new & existing subscribers on Starcomms’ Network. Prices of the products’ hardware and accessories have also been reduced. Subscribers can walk into any of the Starcomms Shops to purchase the product and get instant activation. According to the Commercial Director, Mr. Prakash Pantham “we want to make Internet service affordable to every subscriber on our Network as well as new prospects. The world is now a global village and everyone should have access to information right on time”. In line with Starcomms’ Xmas promotions the Company is offering subscribers on its Network FREE...

Jonah Iboma For Nigerian youths to possess required skills to utilize the Internet, an information technology expert has called for typing to be made compulsory in the country’s education curriculum. Managing Partner of Telecoms Answer Associates, Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu, said the inability of Nigerians to youths to use the keyboard properly when using the computer was a major shortcoming he had identified in the country’s quest towards developing IT. According to him several visits to cybercafes had exposed him to the acute lack of typing skill by youths and adults in the country, adding that this must be redressed. He said, “In spite of the remarkable impact Nigerians made in the campaign on awareness of the internet in the last ten years, we apparently made the mistake of not specifying typing as a prerequisite for our youths’ formal education and from toddler ages. We talk of computer literacy without stressing to our governments that such literacy actually begins from ability to type pr...

LG Electronics has said it is revolutionising the household appliances market by developing technologically advanced appliances that go well beyond traditional definitions of “white goods.” The global and regional digital leader says it is receiving rave reviews for its high-end appliances as it makes the transition to becoming a premium brand.In its October 30, 2006 edition, the American magazine, BusinessWeek, reported that LG’s Digital Appliance Company was emerging as a top brand in the US, providing its high-end goods to major retailers such as Home Depot and Best Buy. “Even more remarkable is that LG has fuelled its growth by going upscale,” the magazine explained. “The Korean manufacturer has targeted consumers willing to spend a few hundred dollars extra for snazzy designs and high performance.”

Jonah Iboma (Analysis) Year 2006 comes to end in just a few days. The year had been an eventful one indeed for the information technology sector especially with the various initiatives of government to increase access of Nigerians to information technology tools. However, in terms of real achievement, it appears that much ground still remains to be covered in the sector in terms of Internet access, skilled use of IT tools and access to computers.In 2006, we have seen the takeoff of the Computer for all Nigerians Initiative, which has been designed by government to give citizens access computers very cheaply. The scheme packaged in conjunction with big names in the IT sector such as Microsoft and Intel, has been touted to have the potential to turn around the abysmally low IT penetration in the country and put Nigeria up there among leading countries in terms of IT usage. However, it is a pity that CANi has been enmeshed in some avoidable controversies which government is yet to fully...

The Information Technology and telecommunications sectors have been recording impressive growth in recent years. Jonah Iboma examines the performance of the sector in 2006. SINCE the issuance of Digital Mobile Licences by the Nigerian Communications Commission to three firms in 2001 and the addition of a fourth licensee in 2003, the country’s telecommunications sector has not remained the same. It has continued to grow in leaps and bounds. Also, the information technology industry has been recording has been recording some modest achievement given the reality on ground a few years ago. One of the factors that facilitated the growth of the telecoms sector was the grant of exclusive rights to the Digital Mobile Licensees to operate national mobile service by the industry’s regulatory body. As a result, the number of phone lines connected have increased to almost 30m so far. But in February this year, the five-year exclusivity period came to an end with the regime replaced with what the...

Jonah Iboma Neptune Software Plc, a leading provider of universal banking solutions, said it had entered into a Build, Operate and Transfer agreement with Cordiant Technologies, an offshore product development partner for Independent Software Vendors to advance its comprehensive universal banking System application code-named ‘Supernova’.According to details made available to our correspondent by the firm’s Nigerian office on Monday, under the terms of the agreement, Cordiant put together a new development team in Chennai, India that would serve as an extension of Neptune’s development efforts to work on its next-generation UBS application. The Indian team was put in place within 60 days and will now work with Neptune’s teams in London and Lagos in a Distributed Collaborative Development framework. Cordiant will leverage the company’s Resource Lab for ISVs in International Tech Park, Chennai for its work with Neptune Software.The Cordiant team in India will help develop the UBS system...

Jonah Iboma Neptune Software Plc, a leading provider of universal banking solutions, said it had entered into a Build, Operate and Transfer agreement with Cordiant Technologies, an offshore product development partner for Independent Software Vendors to advance its comprehensive universal banking System application code-named ‘Supernova’.According to details made available to our correspondent by the firm’s Nigerian office on Monday, under the terms of the agreement, Cordiant put together a new development team in Chennai, India that would serve as an extension of Neptune’s development efforts to work on its next-generation UBS application. The Indian team was put in place within 60 days and will now work with Neptune’s teams in London and Lagos in a Distributed Collaborative Development framework. Cordiant will leverage the company’s Resource Lab for ISVs in International Tech Park, Chennai for its work with Neptune Software.The Cordiant team in India will help develop the UBS system...

Jonah Iboma A competition to test how quick mobile phone users can use the short messaging service is to make its debut for mobile phone users in January.Packaged by Private Networks Nigeria Limited in conjunction with the Nigerian Television Authority, the competition is to offer mobile phone subscribers the opportunity to win prizes up to N10m.The Chief Consultant, Research and Development and the Head of Value Added Services at PNN, Mr. Abdulfalil Odunowo, who unveiled the plan to journalists in Lagos on Friday, said the competition known as Fastest Texter SMS Competition, aims to produce a national champion who will emerge after competing with others at states and regional levels. According to Odunowo, each state and the Federal Capital Territory is to produce a winner to be known as state premier texter that would emerge in contests to be staged at a campus of a Federal higher institution in each of the states of the federation. He said the competition will also be aired on NTA AM...

Jonah Iboma Second National Operator, Globacom and IT products manufacturer, Omatek Computers, have entered into a partnership designed to increase information technology penetration in Nigeria and Ghana.Under this partnership, all the notebooks produced by Omatek Computers will be equipped with a GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) wireless card modem and a Globacom postpaid data SIM card. According to Omatek’s Managing Director, Mrs. Florence Seriki, “is fulfilling the growing need for mobile Internet connectivity anytime of the day, anywhere in Nigeria and in Ghana” Commending Omatek at the signing ceremony, the Chief Operating Officer of Globacom, Mr. Mohammed Jameel, said Omatek as a Nigerian company, believed in innovation and quality. Jameel said the Globacom/Omatek partnership fully connect the average Nigerian with information wherever, whenever and with a technology that would make the subscriber pay only when information packets were sent over the Internet. He stated that th...

Jonah Iboma The Nigerian National Volunteer Service is seeking to cooperate with the Nigerian Information Technology community abroad on the implementation of the Diaspora Giveback Event.Under the programme, Nigerians in the diaspora are being encouraged to provide funds for various IT schemes in the country, which would the supported by the National Poverty Eradication Programme.NAPEP and the NNVS inaugurated the scheme in December for the Nigerian IT community in the diaspora. The Giveback programme commits NAPEP/NNVS to match funds donated or committed by any foreign-based IT professional, group, organisation or association on community development at home. Our correspondent gathered on Monday that the Coordinator of NNVS, Ambassador Joe Keshi, had commenced discussions with Nigerian IT professionals abroad and had backed this up by distributing a document on the scheme online.The Giveback programme as designed is part of the efforts to expand the fight against poverty through gr...