ictnewsnow

Deepak Srivastava, Chief Operating Officer, Airtel Nigeria (middle); Rajiv Sehgal, Director, Business Enterprise Solutions, Airtel Nigeria (left); and Inusa Bello, Chief Sales & Distribution Officer, Airtel Nigeria, during the launch of Airtel’s new post paid, corporate and Small Scale and Medium Enterprises (SME) value proposition in Lagos...on Thursday                                                   Riding on its promise to provide more value to subscribers on its network, leading telecoms operator, Airtel Nigeria, has launched new pocket-friendly package plans tailored for corporate organisations, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs ) , post-paid individuals and BlackBerry users. The new packages, which offer tariffs including generous data volumes, will now make it possible for Airtel customers on this platforms to communicate freely w...

From left: Mr. Samson Isa, Head, Value Added Services, a lucky winner of N1 million in the Glo SIM registration promo, 19-year old Ikenna Efoagui and President General of the Nigerian Football Supporters Club (NFSC), Dr. Rafiu Ladipo during the presentation of prizes to winners in the promo Wednesday. Over 50 lucky subscribers who registered their SIMs and won prizes in the Glo SIM registration promo have been presented with their cheques and other prizes during a special presentation ceremony held yesterday at Globacom’s corporate headquarters inLagos. During the event, 17 winners were presented with cheques for N1 million each, 12 winners collected tickets for once-in-a-lifetime all expenses paid trips to Dubai while 21 lucky subscribers picked up free tickets to watch Premier league champions Manchester United play on their home turf in the UK. Over 300 other lucky subscribers also won N20,000 worth of airtime which has been credited to their phones. Speaking at the cere...

Jim Ovia, Visafone Chairman In line with its strategic expansion plan and the need to bring excellent quality services closer to the doorstep of users in Nigeria, Visafone has added yet another 7 new retail outlets in Lagos, Ogun, Edo and Rivers States respectively. The grand gala opening ceremony took place at Visafone Retail Outlets located on Nnebisi road, Asaba, Ikota Shopping Complex, Ajah and Ikorodu, apart from the ones at market road, Badagry, Agbara industrial estate, Ogun, mission road, Benin and Aba road, Port Harcourt. A statement signed by Head, Corporate Communications, Visafone Communications Limited, Mr. Joseph Ushigiale described the opening of new retail outlets as one more of their Customer Service Initiatives deployed by the company to ensure     subscribers get a feel of unique and excellent customer service delivery. The Managing Director of Visafone, Mr. Sailesh Iyer said the expansion program is aimed at delivering excellent customer ...

The aerial optic fibre network operated by Phase3 Telecom has been identified as one of the key initiatives that will drive connectivity in the West Africa sub region in the coming years. This assertion came during the just-concluded African Peering and Interconnection Forum organised by the Internet Society held in Accra, Ghana. ISOC is a non-profi t organisation that provides leadership in Internet related standards, education and policy. According to a member of ISOC, Mike Jensen, Phase 3 Telecom’s network is one of those projects that have attracted interest of experts globally especially in the quest towards building a reliable internet in the West African region. He noted that the high expectation followed the recent signing of an agreement by Phase3 Telecom with INEO Du Energie of France to expand its West Africa One transmission network coverage from the Republic of Benin to Togo. According to Jensen, with this development, Phase3 Telecom becomes the first re...

Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC), Dr. Eugene Juwah, has lamented the dearth of software encoders in Nigerian. To redress the situation, Juwah has requested the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) to step in and urgently seek ways to boost local software development.  Juwah made this appeal while speaking during a courtesy visit by Director General of NOTAP, Dr. Umar B. Bindir, to NCC headquarters in Abuja.  The EVC regretted the current trend whereby there is growing number of experts in the data base management without a corresponding increase of people with expertise in the area of encoding. this development, he noted,  is detrimental to the  balanced growth of the industry. The NCC boss also appraised the performance of NOTAP in the implementation of its mandate and how it has striven to expand its base for the benefit of the nation and praised its management for it patriotic efforts...

                                                                               Globacom’s popular 3G plus High Speed Internet (HSI) modem has been upgraded. Powered by GLO 1 sub marine cable, the Glo 3G service is now much faster and convenient for the day to day use of subscribers. Now known as Glo 3G Net Pro, the new development has put the modem at the head of the pack with potentials to deliver at speed up to 7.2mbps thus doubling its former speed of 3.6 mbps. Speaking on the new modem, Globacom’s Head of Blackberry/3G Sales, Mr. Olawunmi Jewesimi stated that the new 3G Net Pro has every capacity to out-perform competing products in the entire market. He added “The Net Pro modem is poised to bring unparalleled download / upload speed to the market and subscribers ...

Ever since it debuted on the Nigerian telecommunications scene less than three years ago, Etisalat Nigeria’s innovative products and services have continued to receive rave reviews, both from industry regulators and other stakeholders, including subscribers. Some of these subscribers had the opportunity to air their views on Monday, September 12 during a Customer Forum organised by the Etisalat Nigeria for its customers in Abuja and its environs to air their views on the company to generate feedback on its products and services. Speaking at the event, one of the customers, Mohammed Yusuf, described the impact the company has had on the telecommunications landscape as mind-boggling. He commended Etisalat Nigeria for its innovative services, which he said has really revolutionized the telecommunication industry in the country. According to him, Etisalat has set a standard which will be difficult for others to equal or surpass. “It is amazing the impact it has had, especially when ...

Media tablet shipments in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) reached closed to 4.4 million units in 2Q11, ahead of forecast at 3.7 million, representing an increase of 394% compared with the same quarter last year and up 82% compared with 1Q11. Following a softer than expected 1Q, which was adversely impacted by consumers' "wait-and-see" attitude for the iPad 2 and the delayed availability of Android Honeycomb, 2Q showed renewed buoyancy in the market. Stronger than expected trends were driven primarily by soaring demand for the iPad 2, while the plethora of new models launching with Android Honeycomb has further contributed to tablet momentum. Product design, intuitive touch interface, Internet-centric usage model, and myriad of applications continued to drive demand for media tablets, particularly in Western Europe, which represents the majority of shipments. While the consumer segment remained the key target market, there is increasing interest from enterpr...

The second annual Nigeria Com conference and exhibition opened today at the Eko Centre in Lagos - Nigeria's leading event for the telecoms, media and ICT community. The major topics of discussion were: growth opportunities, network expansion, quality of service, power, internet access, customer care and pricing. As Deepak Srivastava, COO of Airtel Nigeria, said: 'Nigeria Com is very good for helping industry leaders to get together, to talk about what's happening in the market and to develop a strategy for the country'. Deepak opened the conference with a keynote presentation on Airtel's strategy and position after 1 year in the market. The first conference session also included a keynote from market leader MTN. Bayo Adekanmbi, Senior Manager for Business Intelligence, said it was 'a pleasure to be at the 2nd Nigeria Com' and gave a positive message: 'MTN's 10th anniversary is not just reinforcing how much we have led, innovated and enric...

(R-L) Erik Gregory, Pearson Foundation; Emeka Oparah, Director, Corporate Communication and Corporate Social Responsibility, Airtel Nigeria; Atinuke Adelekun, Coordinator, BridgeIT project; Kamarudeen Abatan, Deputy Director, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB); and Osagie Ogunbor, Head of Communications, Nokia West Africa, during the final day of the Teacher Training programme in Lagos Global phone maker, Nokia, Pearson Foundation, and leading telecommunications service provider, Airtel Nigeria have completed the training of teachers in Public Schools in Lagos State on the use of mobile technology to deliver rich media content to students in their classrooms. The teachers, 62 in all from 32 public schools in Lagos State were trained under the Airtel, Nokia, and Pearson Foundation technology-driven education initiative, BridgeIT, in collaboration with the Lagos state government through the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB). The schools are part of a...

Ever since it debuted on the Nigerian telecommunications scene less than three years ago, Etisalat Nigeria’s innovative products and services have continued to receive rave reviews, both from industry regulators and other stakeholders, including subscribers. Some of these subscribers had the opportunity to air their views on Monday, September 12 during a Customer Forum organised by the Etisalat Nigeria for its customers in Abuja and its environs to air their views on the company to generate feedback on its products and services. Speaking at the event, one of the customers, Mohammed Yusuf, described the impact the company has had on the telecommunications landscape as mind-boggling. He commended Etisalat Nigeria for its innovative services, which he said has really revolutionized the telecommunication industry in the country. According to him, Etisalat has set a standard which will be difficult for others to equal or surpass. “It is amazing the impact it has had, especially when...

Rod Beckstrom, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), has praised Brazil as one of the few countries that has adopted a multi-stakeholder approach to Internet governance issues. The ICANN leader praised Brazil’s Internet Steering Committee or Consejo Gestor de Internet CGI during a keynote address to the Futurecom information technology conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He said it has been instrumental in bringing security enhancements to the Internet and in embracing the IPv6 protocol, which dramatically increased the amount of available Internet addresses. “It is an example of the Brazilian government’s wisdom in saying we want the private sector, we want the civil society, and academic leaders, Internet experts and corporations to come together and provide the Internet Strategy for the country,” said Beckstrom. Beckstrom said ICANN is also proudly defined by a multi-stakeholder model, aimed at ...

Airtel Africa, Standard Chartered Bank and MasterCard Worldwide have today announced the commercial launch of the world’s first virtual card that operates off a mobile wallet linked to Airtel’s mobile commerce offering – Airtel money. While initially launched in Kenya, this product will soon be available across Africa. The groundbreaking mobile commerce product known as ‘PayOnline’ will give consumers across the continent greater financial inclusivity in the global e-commerce sector. Registered Airtel customers will be able to make online purchases from any site where MasterCard is accepted. The single use shopping card will be initially available in Kenya for purchases made from non-Kenyan websites. The second phase of the program will see the rollout of the online product across Airtel markets. The tripartite partnership signals the growing realizations by players in the e-commerce sector of the expected growth in mobile payments and contactless card payments in the next de...

The government of Cross River State has applauded leading telecommunication service provider, Airtel Nigeria for powering its economic empowerment programme for rural communities and for improving access to modern communication infrastructure in these areas. Airtel, the Deputy Governor of the State, Mr. Efiok Cobham, said in Calabar, through its support has helped the government realize its dream of creating a pool of rural entrepreneurs and empowering more indigenes of the State economically as well as spreading its poverty reduction programme across the area. Under the programme, Airtel and the government will provide incentives for Rural Distributors to extend access to telecommunication services to rural and underserved communities. Speaking at the presentation of brand new motorbikes, crash helmet, megaphones, SIM registration machines, giant umbrellas, and N50, 000.00 (fifty thousand naira) worth of Airtel products and services to each of the beneficiaries, Ugbo explained that ...