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FirstBank of Nigeria Plc and Etisalat Nigeria have signed an agreement  to provide seamless Mobile money Financial Services to millions of Nigerians. The agreement signed recently in Lagos further strengthens the readiness of Nigeria for effective delivery of mobile money services. Speaking at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) , the two companies promised to combine their strengths to provide secure, convenient, affordable and user-friendly mobile financial services to all Nigerians through the use of mobile phones. Mobile Financial Services is the use of mobile phones either as an access to bank accounts, or as a bank account in itself, for account inquiry, mobile transfer, retail payments, micro insurance, savings remittances, mobile top-up, utility bill payments and government collections among others. Add caption Commenting on the initiative, FirstBank’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Bisi Onasanya said mobile financial services help ...

In a bid to continually deliver unmatched mobile experience to its teeming customers, Nokia the world’s leading mobile phone manufacturer has unveiled the Asha range of products into the Nigerian market. The launch event which took place in Lagos recently saw the official introduction of the Nokia Asha 201 and Nokia Asha 303 into the Nigerian market. Nokia Asha phones are messaging devices produced with full QWERTY keypad for quick and easy text input yet quite affordable. The Asha range are available at the very affordable prize of mobile phones but imbued with the distinct features of smart phones. General Manager Sales, Nokia Nigeria, Mr Chris Brown said consumers can now send text messages, emails and chats with their friends with the added speed advantage of QWERTY. They can also view their friends status updates and tweet right there on their home screen and download thousands of free applications from the proprietary Nokia store. Nokia’s Solutions Marketing Manage...

Jonah Iboma How Lagos rains impacted telecoms service Jonah Iboma Telecoms infrastructure was among the worst hit following the first rainfall in 2012 in Lagos. Telecoms masts and towers belonging to Internet service Providers (ISPs) and other operators were badly damaged in the rainfall that resulted in loss of lives as well. The February rain was unusual in the tropic zone which is one that is characterised by intense sunshine and heavy rains at different times of the year. Many African countries, especially those in the western part of the continent including Nigeria, fall into this zone. The weather pattern is such that the tropics have two major seasons -rainy season and dry season. The rainy season, as rightly named, has a lot of rainfall, while the dry season has a lot of dry air, although night temperatures fall significantly during this period. A car damaged by a mast Nigeria, like many West African countries, witnesses a transition from the dry sea...

Jonah Iboma Trading in computers and related electronic products has become synonymous with Ikeja, the capital city of Nigeria’s economic headquarters, Lagos. This follows the emergence of what has been described as West Africa’s biggest computer trade centre- the Ikeja computer Village. One of the reasons that have been adduced for the emergence of Ikeja computer market is the centrality of Lagos to economic activities in the state. For anyone making entry to Lagos through air, land or rail, Ikeja is a place that one must go through. This is because the railway line that runs from southern Nigeria to the northwest passes through Lagos. The Local and International airports are located in Ikeja while coming by road from the country through the ever-busy Lagos-Ibadan expressway, one will be have the Ikeja on the right had side with the imposing structures of the state secretariat. A cross-section of the Ikeja Computer Village  In the last 15 years, Ikeja Computer...

Jonah Iboma Journalists reporting telecommunications and information technology recently changed leadership of their reportorial group popularly called, the Joint Action Committee on ICT Awareness and Development (JACITAD). The group is particularly important as it consists of journalists that have been reporting the ICT sector that is one of the most viable in Nigeria over the past decade. The amount of foreign direct investment witnessed in the sector is second only to that of oil and gas. According to figures released by Nigerian Communications Commission, the regularity body of Nigeria telecommunications industry, over $10bn of investment has flowed into the sector in the last 10 years. The huge investment in the sector has led to creation of several thousands of direct jobs while many associated businesses have also been created in the process. While, the sector has witnessed a lot of such growth, much of its success is down to the work of journalists- the IT journalists...

Jonah Iboma It was tale of regrets on Friday when a driver and occupants of a Toyota Corolla car had to be rescued from a gutter on the Berger- Iyana Oworo road, following a crash that left them injured and their vehicle seriously damaged. Investigations revealed that the driver, Mr. Sunday Danladi and two of his friends were on their way to Lagos Island around 11am on the fateful day to make some purchases when the accident happened. A pedestrian who witnessed the accident, Mr. Kelechi Uche, said he was just walking on the side walk of the road when he saw that vehicle coming opposite him was gradually veering off the road. According to him, he thought the driver wanted to park but that he was surprised to see that the vehicle suddenly veered off the road completely and fell into the gutter. He said immediately he saw this, he and some vehicle owners that witnessed the accident, rushed quickly to help the occupants of the car to safety. Uche said when they had successfully ...

The Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Steve Evans, has said that the need to help create a platform for the academic community and businesses to work together in order to achieve a more meaningful impact on the society informed the firm’s decision to set up the Etisalat CSR Centre at Lagos Business School, Pan-African University. Speaking on Tuesday at the opening of the two-day International Corporate Social Responsibility Conference, in partnership with the Lagos Business School, Pan African University, Evans said Etisalat intends to act as a catalyst for the development of the CSR agenda in the country. ‘The essence of the centre is  to  bridge the usual gap created by the tendencies of business and academia to work independently and hopefully it will both enhance the practice of CSR in Nigeria and help shape the perspectives of decision and policy makers who can assist by developing an appropriate framework in which CSR can thrive’ he said. H...

World’s leading manufacturer of mobile devices, Nokia has launched six new Care centres across the country. The centres are located in Ibadan, Ilorin, Port Harcourt and Lagos, which has three – Victoria Island, Trade fair complex and the Computer Village Ikeja.  Speaking at the launch event in computer Village, the Head of Nokia care for West Africa, Mr. Silvin Sinan said the move was aimed bring after-sales service closer to the people through walk-in experience. He said Nokia was determined to provide first class repair services using genuine Nokia parts, technology and tools to fix genuine Nokia devices. Silvin Sinan, Head of Care, Nokia-West Africa; Sunday Ogunfolaji, National Social Secretary, Computer & Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria (CAPDAN); Ladi Oyatayo, Head of Retail Marketing, Nokia-West Africa at the Nokia Care Centre official launch at Otigba, Computer Village, Lagos The Nokia Customer Care boss said Nokia had a strategy of recruitme...

The bid to fight unapproved mobile phones in Nigeria took a more robust push with the Nigerian Communications Commission sealing off the offices and warehouses of two mobile phone manufacturers at the popular Computer Village, in Ikeja, Lagos. According to the telecommunications regulator, the two companies - Ken Xin Da Mobile and G-Tide Mobile - were sealed because “they did not conform to the ‘Type Approval’ standards as mandated by the Commission before bringing their devices into Nigeria.” NCC is empowered by the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 to establish and enforce standards for all telecommunications equipment in operation in the country, in order to ensure that they operate seamlessly and safely within the Nigerian telecommunications environment. NCC regular publishes a list of type-approved phones in Nigeria but hardly seals companies for manufacturing and selling of non-typed approved phones. The statement read further, “All equipment manufacturers, ve...

Arrangements are in top gear for the first ICT Girls Day to be hosted in Nigeria and chaired by Chief Executive Officer of MainOne Cable Company Limited, Ms Funke Opeke,. Aside from chairing the event, MainOne Cable Company has also offered to be the platinum sponsor of the event, which has the objective of sensitizing young girls on the opportunities and relevance of getting into ICT as a profession. The event, which will hold at the Golden Gate Restaurant, Ikoyi on April 26, is part of an initiative of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and is being hosted in Nigeria by eBusiness Life Communication, publishers of eBusiness Life Magazine. In a mail to eBusiness Life, Ms Opeke acknowledged the importance of having women in the profession, noting that the quest is what MainOne would like to partner eBusiness Life on. “We will be delighted to support and I will be glad to chair,” she had stated in her mail to eBusiness Life. The one-day workshop, which is goi...

Submarine cable companies in Nigeria are currently facing bandwidth glut if feelers from some stake- holders in the ICT industry are anything to go by. The problem ensued due to lack of a national telecommunication, backbone infrastructure provider.  The present irony is that in a country where Main One and Glo1 have joined the SAT3, the living remains of NITEL, to provide broadband Inter-net access, access has not been as less expensive as was expected to be, according to a view expressed by Mrs Funke Opeke, CEO, Main One Cable while speaking recently on an interview session on the Cable News Network (CNN) reported by ATCONNEWS. She was of the opinion that the present situation had not been significantly different from what it used to be when it was only SAT3 that linked Nigeria and other West African countries to other parts of the world. “There is more than enough capacity at the coastline where the cables berthed but the infra-structure to take them to every nook a...

Sony Ericsson no longer exists as Sony has completed its buy-out of Ericsson from the handset joint venture. The business will now be known as Sony Mobile Communications. The struggling Japanese consumer electronics giant said in a statement, that its next move will be to “further integrate the mobile phone business as a vital element of its electronics business, with the aim of accelerating convergence between Sony’s lineup of network enabled consumer electronics products, including smartphones, tablets, TVs and PCs.” Sony and Ericsson first announced the agreement in October 2011, following months of declining sales and Ericsson highlighted then that move was due to “declining synergies in combining network and handset operations.” Ericsson said that its gain on the transaction will be “approximately SEK7.5 billion (US$1.1 billion),” which will be reported as part of its first quarter 2012 results. Under the terms of the agreement, Sony and Ericsson have also enter...

The landscape of e-banking services in Nigeria is set to witness a major shift as two leading companies in banking and telecom sectors of the economy, FirstBank of Nigeria Plc (FirstBank) and Airtel Networks Limited have agreed to combine their strengths to provide seamless mobile money services to millions of Nigerians. Speaking at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two companies recently in Lagos, the two companies promised to combine their strengths to provide secure, convenient and user-friendly mobile banking services to unbanked people throughout via mobile phones. Mobile banking is the use of mobile phones to remotely access bank accounts, primarily for account inquiry, mobile transfer, retail payments, micro insurance, savings remittances, mobile top-up, utility bill payments and government collections among others. In his speech, The Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Rajan Swaroop, said, "Partne...