MTN, Etisalat, Visafone, MainOne declare interest in new licenses

By: Ben Uzor Jr

The race to meet the Federal Government’s target of 30 percent broadband penetration in Nigeria over the next four years, has begun in earnest. Four telecommunications operators, including underwater cable operator, MainOne, Visafone Communications, South Africa’s MTN, and United Arab Emirates (UAE’s) Etisalat, have declared interest in bidding for new licenses under the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) new broadband market structure. This development is coming on the heels of reports that the Federal Government, through the NCC had placed a minimum offer price of N3.6 billion on a license for the sole provider of wholesale broadband services in Nigeria, expected to be sold next year in a fresh round of spectrum auctions.

It was reported that a reserve price, which represents the minimum amount an item is on offer in an auction, has been fixed at N3,673,100,000 ($32million) for the 30MHz of 2.3Ghz frequency spectrum sale scheduled to be concluded by Q1 2014. The winner of the single 2.3 GHz spectrum will become the sole wholesale provider of broadband services to other service providers in Nigeria. Eugene Juwah, executive vice chairman, NCC, had told a telecoms forum in Lagos recently that the Information Memorandum (IM) for the race was billed to be released in no distant time. This fresh round of licensing, according to the regulator, would also give birth to seven regionally based InfraCos, in line with its proposed new broadband market structure.

Informed sources told BusinessDay, weekend, that Visafone, Etisalat and MTN Nigeria are interested in becoming wholesale wireless providers, whilst MainOne is setting its sights on the InfraCo license. For quite some time, Etisalat has been clamouring for additional spectrum to roll out innovative broadband services. "We want the regulator to award the license to the four large telcos, with the needed scale, who can engineer that spectrum in order to support the growth and the demand for mobile broadband service", Matthew Willsher, Acting CEO, Etisalat Nigeria, said at a telecoms forum in Lagos. Insiders say Etisalat is aware of the immense opportunities of the new market structure, considering that it is a late entrant in Nigeria’s telecoms market.

The boards of these companies, our sources say, have cut short their holiday break to strategise on the best possible way to approach this in view of the inherent complexities in the licensing requirement, specifically in the area of ownership structure. According to the NCC, "This broadband market structure will ensure vibrancy in the market and prevent dominance, as no company will be allowed to play in more than two of the service layers and the equity participation in bidding consortium for the licenses will be controlled." The InfraCos are firms that will assist in the deployment of critical Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructures in all the six-geopolitical zones of the country, towards accelerating broadband services deployment.

By virtue of the NCC’s new broadband market structure, which seeks to achieve the objective of a nationwide metropolitan and backbone fibre deployment on an open access, non-discriminatory, price regulated basis, the wholesale wireless provider will interconnect with the InfraCo at their Points of Access (PoA). This, according to the regulator, would create an integrated broadband service nationwide to home, hospitals, public and private institutions as well as businesses. "It is an option that would support our 4G rollout plans. Yes, we are interested but we is evaluating the option and when the time comes we will definitely take the right decision", Srinivasa KV, chief executive officer (CEO) of Visafone Communications Limited, told BusinessDay in an interview.

"We would look at getting licenses for InfraCos, perhaps more than one, depending on the scope of the eventual framework that the NCC decides to implement", Funke Opeke, CEO, MainOne, a local ICT firm, told BusinessDay in an interview. "We are interest in acquiring 30MHz spectrum but we implore the NCC to remain intensely focused on creating a friendly operational environment for ICT infrastructure in Nigeria", said a senior executive at MTN, who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the issue. A copy of the IM obtained by Technology Times, revealed that interested bidders are expected to pay the sum of N367, 310,000 ($2.3m), which represents 10 percent of the reserve price for the license and also the Intention to Bid Document (IBD), the deposit payment required to be made by all applicants as part of the pre-qualification process, the rule stated.

"The IBD is a commitment from the Applicant to pay at least the Reserve Price for the license, as specified in this IM, and to participate in the Auction process", the NCC said, adding that the cleared funds must have reached the designated transaction account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) not later than 17.00 hours (NT) on February 7th, 2014. The planned auctions will be an all comers affair, as companies that are duly registered in Nigeria can participate once they can shell out the stipulated funds and meet other pre-qualification requirements. On the other hand, even though existing telecoms companies are not excluded from the auctions, they are expected to scale stiffer pre-qualification conditions.

"Already licensed operators participating in the process must fulfill all existing obligations to the Commission including payments of Annual Operational Levy, Spectrum and National Numbering Plan fees, prior to prequalification", according to the telecoms umpire. The NCC is issuing the last 2.3GHz in the upcoming bids as three other companies have hitherto been awarded similar spectrum to deliver Internet service to end users, the auction plans states. "There are three operators providing data services on the 2.3GHz band. The operators are Spectranet, Direct on PC (DoPC) and Mobitel. They currently operate with a 20MHz bandwidth. These licenses were awarded in 2009 except for DoPC that was awarded in 2006, the regulator said, underscoring that despite these, the Nigerian broadband market stakes remain attractive for a new wholesale service provider.

Source: Businessday

2014: Why global IT companies in Nigeria may not grow - unless

 

Uwaje

By: Chris Uwaje

The global IT battlefield in 2014 will revolve between triangular dimensions of: IT Policy, e-Government, and e-Security. These triangular parameters will dictate the development and market growth directions of the Information and Communications Technology sector.

And unless massive local skill capacities are urgently developed in the Nigerian IT Ecosystem, the expected market growth by global IT companies will result into a diminishing mirage. The reason is simple: Technology diffusion has overgrown its support (skill) capacities for continued growth in Nigeria and by extension, in most of African upbeat nations. This phenomenon is due to two critical factors: The Telecommunications-centric IT vision of the nation and the gross neglect of addressing indigenous IT capacity building during the early bubble of the initial telecommunications growth era of 2003-2011.

As we migrate into the midstream of the second decade of 21^st century Technology frontier, new conditions will be required to ensure and accelerate national IT development. The most critical of those conditions is ‘indigenous capacity’. Currently, Nigeria ranks 131 of 143 in global ICT e-Readiness development status – mainly due to her inability to build commensurate local skill capacities to support and sustain the development of her IT ecosystem.

This lack of skill capacities has stressed the variables for accelerated growth – earlier built on hardware and will further distress user demand, constructive investment, employment and real development as we engage 2014, unless the nation re-focuses her absolute telecoms –centric direction strategy and move into constructive knowledge and innovative solutions – championed by knowledge ware/software, where massive investment is critically required.

To attain the national Software capacity building, we must first of all consciously do the following:

·         Bring back IT knowhow currently incubating at the Industry Domain to Education.

·         Retool the Education System and by extension, retrain our IT lecturers– ensuring that we abandon the teaching of ICT-User competence and move onto Computer Science Education at all levels.

·         Adopt a national IT Skill-Conversion Strategy to accelerate our capacity building goal.

·         Furthermore, it also means that we must establish special Information Technology Institutions – such as national Software Engineering Development Institutes at Federal, Private Domain and State levels.

·         Connect with our Diaspora Brain Drain and convert them to IT brain gain.

Airtel reaffirms commitment to human capital development

Airtel Nigeria will continue to invest in education and human capital development in Nigeria, as the core of its corporate social responsibility commitment, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Segun Ogunsanya, has said.

He said this at the Lagos Business School, Pan Atlantic University.

The Airtel Nigeria Chief Executive was Guest Speaker at the dinner for the 17^{th graduating class of the Executive Masters in Business Administration programme of Lagos Business School.}

At the event, which held at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos and themed Soaring To Greatness, Ogunsanya said Airtel recognises that "Education is the bedrock of any thriving society and today, we are leading a quiet revolution in the delivery of quality primary education across the country.

"We have partnered with state governments to adopt primary schools in underserved communities so that we can offer the children the best opportunity in life to realise their dreams and become the leaders of tomorrow."

He noted that the telecom operator has also collaborated with the Lagos Business School to develop young, exceptionally talented Nigerians.

"Early last year, we announced a major human capital development programme that would involve the recruitment of the brightest students from the Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme of the Lagos Business School (LBS).

"Recently, we also inaugurated the Airtel’s Leadership Development Programme in conjunction with the LBS and other leading management development consultancy partners. At Airtel, we place a high premium on education and we will continue to invest in the development of the human capital in Nigeria," Ogunsanya said.

He also shared important leadership and management tips with the graduates, encouraging them to "Keep an open mind (do not limit your thinking); always share your knowledge or else you will get smaller.

"Don’t just plan to participate; plan to win as people only remember the winner. Also, plan to win small battles so that the war is won – nothing is too big to surmount and always remember that whatever you set your mind on, you will succeed."

Also speaking at the occasion, Nnamdi Ezeigbo, President of the EMBA 17 class, thanked the Airtel CEO and congratulated all members of the outgoing class saying "there is joy at having successfully concluded the arduous task of passing through an institution as great as this with endless list of great men and women."

The event also featured a motivating presentation from the Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), George Uriesi who challenged the graduates to take very seriously the matter of self-mastery, describing it as an important factor that defines very successful people.

The event was attended by Airtel’s Customer Services Delivery Director, Ajay Bakshi; Human Resources Director, Jubril Saba; MBA Director, Lagos Business School, Dr Nubi Achebo; Managing Director of SLOT, Nnamdi Ezeigbo, and friends and spouses of graduating members of the EMBA class, among others.

Microsoft disrupts ZeroAccess web fraud botnet

ZeroAccess, one of the world's largest botnets - a network of computers infected with malware to trigger online fraud - has been disrupted by Microsoft and law enforcement agencies.

ZeroAccess hijacks web search results and redirects users to potentially dangerous sites to steal their details.

It also generates fraudulent ad clicks on infected computers then claims payouts from duped advertisers.

Also called Sirefef botnet, ZeroAccess, has infected two million computers.

The botnet targets search results on Google, Bing and Yahoo search engines and is estimated to cost online advertisers $2.7m (£1.7m) per month.

Microsoft said it had been authorised by US regulators to "block incoming and outgoing communications between computers located in the US and the 18 identified Internet Protocol (IP) addresses being used to commit the fraudulent schemes".

In addition, the firm has also taken control of 49 domains associated with ZeroAccess.

David Finn, executive director of Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit, said the disruption "will stop victims' computers from being used for fraud and help us identify the computers that need to be cleaned of the infection".

'Most robust'

The ZeroAccess botnet relies on waves of communication between groups of infected computers, instead of being controlled by a few servers.

This allows cyber criminals to control the botnet remotely from a range of computers, making it difficult to tackle.

According to Microsoft, more than 800,000 ZeroAccess-infected computers were active on the internet on any given day as of October this year.

"Due to its botnet architecture, ZeroAccess is one of the most robust and durable botnets in operation today and was built to be resilient to disruption efforts," Microsoft said.

However, the firm said its latest action is "expected to significantly disrupt the botnet's operation, increasing the cost and risk for cyber criminals to continue doing business and preventing victims' computers from committing fraudulent schemes".

Microsoft said its Digital Crimes Unit collaborated with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) to disrupt the operations.

Earlier this year, security firm Symantec said it had disabled nearly 500,000 computers infected by ZeroAccess and taken them out of the botnet.




Source: BBC

NSA 'tracking' hundreds of millions of mobile phones

Almost five billion mobile phone location records are logged by the NSA every day, reports the Washington Post.

The data is said to help the NSA track individuals, and map who they know, to aid the agency's anti-terror work.

The "dragnet surveillance" was condemned by digital rights groups who called for the NSA's snooping efforts to be reined in.

The news comes as Microsoft plans to use more encryption to thwart NSA spying on it and its customers.

Wrong target

The huge database built up by the NSA (National Security Agency) keeps an eye on "hundreds of millions" of mobile phones, said the Post, adding that it let the agency map movements and relationships in ways that were "previously unimaginable".

It added that the vast programme potentially surpassed any other NSA project in terms of its impact on privacy. Information about the programme was in papers released to the Post by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The spying agency is said to have accumulated so much data, about 27 terabytes according to leaked papers seen by the Post, that it was "outpacing" the NSA's ability to analyse the information in a timely fashion.

The analysis, via a computer system called Co-Traveler, was necessary as only a tiny fraction of 1% of the data gathered was actually useful in its anti-terror work, said the paper. The analysis is so detailed that it can be used to thwart attempts to hide from scrutiny by people who use disposable phones or only use a handset briefly before switching it off.

The vast majority of the information gathered is said to come from taps installed on mobile phone networks and used the basic location-information that networks log as people move around. Analysing this data helps the NSA work out which devices are regularly in close proximity and, by implication, exposes a potential connection between the owners of those handsets.

The American Civil Liberties Union said it was "staggering" that the NSA could mount such a vast location-logging system without any public debate. The "dragnet surveillance" broke US obligations that require it to respect the privacy of foreigners and Americans.

"The government should be targeting its surveillance at those suspected of wrong-doing, not assembling massive associational databases that, by their very nature, record the movements of a huge number of innocent people," it added.

The steady flow of information about the NSA's surveillance work has led Microsoft to take steps to protect itself and its customers from unwarranted scrutiny, it said in a blogpost.

Brad Smith, Microsoft legal counsel, said government snooping was now as much of a security problem as computer viruses and other cyber-attacks.

In response, Mr Smith said, Microsoft was expanding its use of encryption; would fight legal orders that stop it telling customers when their data is being sought and would allow a closer look at the code it develops to show there were no backdoors built in.




Source: BBC

Data haul by Android Flashlight app 'deceives' millions

Tens of millions of Android users have been "deceived" by a developer who covertly gathered personal data, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said.

GoldenShores Technologies took ID and location data from the millions using its Brightest Flashlight app.

The developer shared the data with ad networks but did not tell users about this practice, an FTC statement said.

To settle the charges, GoldenShores has agreed to give users more control over what happens to their data.

In its statement, the FTC criticised GoldenShores for its poor privacy policy, which did not let people know that the app was logging their precise location and a unique identifier for their phone and was then sharing that information with advertisers.

'Left in the dark'

Although the free app offered people an opt-out clause, the FTC said this was "meaningless" because data from all users of the Brightest Flashlight app was shared whether they agreed or not.

"When consumers are given a real, informed choice, they can decide for themselves whether the benefit of a service is worth the information they must share to use it," said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC bureau of consumer protection, in a statement.

"But this Flashlight app left them in the dark about how their information was going to be used," she added.

A settlement deal signed by GoldenShores tightens up its privacy policy and demands that the company change how it handles data. In particular, it must no longer misrepresent how it gathers data and whom it is shared with, and must give consumers meaningful control over what is done with the information.

In addition, it must delete all the data it previously gathered from those who downloaded the Flashlight app.




Source: BBC

Samsung and Philips among tech firms raided by EU

Samsung and Philips have revealed that they were among several consumer electronics companies raided recently by European Commission inspectors.

Thursday's raid focused on companies making and selling consumer electronics products and small domestic appliances.

The Commission said it was concerned these firms had colluded in restricting online availability of some products in a bid to restrict competition.

Media-Saturn, the European consumer electronics retailer, was also raided.

Both Samsung and Philips said they were co-operating with the authorities.

"The Commission has concerns that the companies concerned may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit anticompetitive agreements or concerted practices," it said in a statement.

Restricting supply "may lead to higher consumer prices or the unavailability of products through certain online sales channels", it said.

The Commission did not give details of the companies it had visited.

Exclusive appeal

If found guilty, the companies could face fines equivalent to 10% of global annual turnover.

In Samsung's case, this could amount to £17bn, although a fine of this size would be unprecedented and extremely unlikely.

Sources familiar with the case told the BBC that agreements between manufacturers and retailers are not necessarily illegal.

Luxury goods brands, for example, often want to restrict the supply and distribution of their products to safeguard their exclusive appeal.

Whether such a defence would apply to low-cost electronic products is for the lawyers to decide.

"The fact that the Commission carries out such inspections does not mean that the companies are guilty of anticompetitive behaviour," the Commission said, "nor does it prejudge the outcome of the investigation itself."

EU competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia has been stepping up antitrust investigations under his watch.

This week the Commission fined eight banks - including Royal Bank of Scotland - a total of 1.7bn euros (£1.4bn) for forming illegal cartels to rig interest rates in the financial derivatives markets.

And in May, Commission inspectors raided several oil companies suspected of price-fixing.




Source: BBC

Airtel Nigeria may lose subscribers over BIS stoppage

Airtel’s decision to stop its BlackBerry plans on non BlackBerry devices may cause some of its subscribers to find solace among rivals.

These are some responses on the firm’s Facebook page.

 Prince Sunday Johnson Obot
It has been brought to my notice that you guys are planning to block BIS on Non-BB access Devices. Well, i want to tell you guys that you are on course for a wreckage of your business and whosoever that advised you guys to do that probably by following your other competitors - MTN, Glo and etisalat is such an unrealistic and deluded fellow with respect to the standard of your service. May i also bring to your notice that i have been a loyal customer from the Vmobile era and interestingly my sim is still Vmobile Sim card. Airtel has been my primary line from the beginning as it was my first sim i aquired but due to the terrible nature of your service in terms of standard, your lack of appreciation for your customers, i bought an etisalat sim with a new phone and since then, eti9ja has been my primary line and even when one of my phones got damaged and i had to forego one sim for the other, i dropped your sim card in favor of my etisalat line until recently i started using it for internet surfing on non-bb access device. Now, you may wonder why all this long story. well, its to tell you that, like me, other subscribers dont buy in to your voice services cos its rubbish and many of us out there put up with your crap internet cos the only edge you have over other network operators is the use of BIS on non- BIS access devices hence thats the ONLY thing that keeps you people alive per say airtel otherwise your fate would be like Visafone. yeah, that's the only life line you have left in my opinion. this is no threat but dare block the service and see yourself die a natural death cos those who advice you to block the service are only looking for your ruination cos they are giving you a FALSE impression of yourself. They're apparently hallucinating or even illusioned.how? i'll tell you.

From a reality check, truth be told, Airtel is of no match to MTN, Etisalat and not to mention glo in many aspect. Granted, these operators have all blocked BIS on non-BIS devices but then they have other services and freebies that would still balance their subscriber base. but what about you? what do you have to offer? poor service, exorbitant call charges and the likes. MTN and etisalat has the best internet service at the moment but you dont! you claim to have 3.75G which's equivalent to HSPA but over 80% of your subscribers are still complaining of poor internet service. I dont browse with your sim on day time cos its whacked! etisalat does it better. i find your service good to managed as from 12AM in the morning till 4AM. So tell me what's your pride huh? Just tell me one thing that makes you stand out amongst your competitors if should block BIS on non-bb device? MTN and etisalat's Edge or 3G is 100times better than your 4G(thats if you have one). etisalat gives me 1 minute for every 3mins calls from other networks.. i get 30% bonus on all recharge i make in 30days. MTN gives me double of my credit recharge and guess what? i use this airtime to call other networks too.. what can you really boost of doing for your subscribers airtel? the only one you ever did is the one you are now about to abolish. you are heading for a serious skyfall airtel.

So if you like, go ahead and block BIS on no Bis device i dont care! i will rather go spend my money and subscribe for MTN fastlink or etisalat easyblaze data plans than spend even 100 naira on your non-bis data plan.

 

Kayode Oluwarotimi Joshua To say d truth, I don't use my airtel line for calling. I only use it to browse on my android phone wit d BIS. If truly u guys r going to block d use use of BIS on non bb phones, u've gotta make available a smartphone plan dat will be as good as d BIS. We r d ones dat preaches d gospel of d use airtel BIS on android but if u block it without a vice versa plan, we will surely be dia to repreach d gospel n u'll lose all d soul we've ever won for you. Be wise...

 

Airtel customers to watch Arsenal at the Emirates

From left: Ms Sunmisola Osi-Efa, Project Coordinator, Skye Bank and Mrs. Chinenye Chima, Principal Maritime Labour Officer, NIMASA, both members of Airtel Premier Club and winners of round trip (business class) tickets to watch Arsenal’s home game against Everton on Sunday, at the Emirate Stadium, United Kingdom, in the Airtel’s Rewardz Loyalty Surprise Campaign. Both winners were presented with their tickets at Airtel HQ, Banana Island, Ikoyi Lagos.

Airtel Nigeria has demonstrated its commitment to continually reward loyalty by offering four customers tickets to watch Arsenal FC clash with Everton at the Emirates Stadium, this Sunday.

The leading telecommunications service provider is rewarding these customers, who were selected in the on-going Airtel Loyalty Surprise campaign, with an all-expense trip to the Emirates, based on their allegiance to the network.

Two of the winners, Sunmisola Osi-Efa, Project Coordinator, Skye Bank and Mrs. Chinenye Chima, Principal Maritime Labour Officer at NIMASA were formally handed their tickets by the Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Segun Ogunsanya, on Wednesday during a brief ceremony held at Airtel Head Office in Banana Island, Lagos.

The winners are expected to depart Lagos on Saturday morning for London.

Speaking at the occasion, Ogunsanya thanked the winners for their loyalty to the company, pledging to continually reward customers for staying true to the Airtel brand.

He reiterated the company’s commitment to provide customers with impactful products and services matched with excellent customer services in pursuit of its vision of becoming the most loved brand in the lives of Nigerians.

"I must congratulate you for your patronage and belief in the Airtel brand for these past years. It is your support and the useful consumer insights that you consistently provide, that has contributed great value to our business as we push the frontier of telecoms services further to delight our customers. We wish you a safe trip as you share quality time at the Emirates with our partners, Arsenal FC in London", the CEO stated.

Last year, Airtel and Arsenal FC signed a partnership that provides Airtel with the opportunity to utilize the club's merchandising, hospitality and content rights in five countries, Nigeria, Zambia, Ghana, Uganda and Rwanda.

The Airtel Premier Club is a dedicated reward programme for high value customers.

Airtel commissions adopted School in Imo

From Left, His Royal Highness, Amara III of Amumara, Chairman Ezinihitte Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Ositadinma Beneth Nwokocha; Airtel’s Regional Operations Director, South Region, Godfrey Efeurhobo; Hon. Commissioner of Education, Imo State, Dr. Uche Ejiogu and CSR Manager, Airtel, Chinda Manjor during the unveiling of plaque at the commissioning of Airtel adopted Community Primary School, Amumara, Ezinihitte, LGA, Imo State today.

Chuks Udo Okonta

 Airtel Nigeria, has taken another bold step in fulfilment of its corporate vision with the commissioning of one of its adopted schools in Amumara, Imo State, today Thursday.  

The Telco in a statement, said the rehabilitation of Community Primary School, Amumara, Imo State as well as the donation of borehole and educational items to the primary school underscore its commitment to providing first-rate educational opportunities for underserved communities across the country.  

The firm’s Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Segun Ogunsanya, speaking on the Adopt-a-School initiative, said the company is passionate about creating real value for underprivileged children, its customers and other stakeholders.  

He said: “At Airtel, we seek to connect with our customers in various ways and our intervention in Community Primary School, Amumara, Imo State attests to our commitment to provide empowerment for underprivileged children and also contribute to the development of our country.”  

Ogunsanya who was represented by the company’s Regional Operations Director, South Region, Godfrey Efeurhobo, said Airtel will continue to look for opportunities to partner with governments at various levels in the development of the education sector.  

As part of its Adopt-a-School programme, Airtel has renovated and commissioned schools in Lagos, Ogun and Cross Rivers states and also donated educational materials and other facilities such as borehole and generating sets.  

Airtel’s Adopt-a-School programme is a robust initiative that offers underprivileged children access to quality education in a conducive environment. It also provides them with all the materials for learning and study. As part of the programme, Airtel organises trainings for teachers of its adopted schools to ensure that a high teaching quality is always maintained.  

In her address, Commissioner of Education Imo State, Uche Ejiogu, commended Airtel for its “high powered show of patriotism” which has brought development to the school.  She said the government has therefore opened the doors to Airtel more than ever before “for more business relations geared towards expanding your reach to the benefit of Imo people.  

“More so, like Oliver Twist, we are asking that you extend your ‘Adopt-a-School’ project to other schools in the remote villages and communities in Imo State,” She said.  

 Commenting on the Adopt-a-School initiative of the telecom operator, Head Teacher of Community Primary School, Mrs. Felly Wulotu, said the teachers and pupils are very happy to see the impact of Airtel on the school. She praised Airtel for transforming the school and providing the pupils with needed learning materials, borehole and furnished classrooms.  

“Parents now feel happy to bring their children to this school because of the development they see here. There are good classrooms, text books, note books, uniforms, school bags and borehole for clean water. We appreciate Airtel for this generous contribution to our school,” she said.  

The commissioning ceremony was attended by Sole Administrator, Ezinihitte L.G.A, Dr. Kelechi Osuagwu; His Royal Highness, Eze Ositadinma Beneth Nwokocha; Chairman, Imo State Universal Basic Education Board, Mrs. Getrude Oduka; executives of Imo State National Union of Teachers (NUT); Dipo Jolaosho, Regional Marketing Manager, South, Airtel Nigeria; Chinda Manjor, CSR Manager, Airtel Nigeria and Erhumu Bayagbon, Media Relations Manager, Airtel Nigeria.    

It would be recalled that, last week, Airtel donated a borehole, school uniforms and other learning materials to St John’s Primary School, Oke-Agbo, Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State.  

 Speaking at the handing over of the borehole and presentation of the gifts to the pupils and staff of St. John’s Primary School, Ogunsanya, said the provision of safe and clean drinking water for the pupils and their teachers would keep the children within the school compound during school and also prevent them from water borne diseases.  

He had also noted that Airtel in all its activities has continued to strive not only in “providing world class telecommunications experience for customers, but also endeavour to support the social, economic development of communities in which it operates.”  

“In Airtel, we are passionate about partnering with organisations to improve the society. That is why our CSR initiative is committed to adoption of government owned primary schools nationwide,” he said.

Jolla: Ex-Nokia employees launch smartphone

The smartphone has interchangeable back panels that alter the phone's software

By Dave Lee 

A team of ex-Nokia employees has released the first handset running on a new smartphone platform.

The Jolla phone - pronounced Yol-la - is powered by open-source operating system Sailfish, but can run most apps designed for Google's Android platform.

The company has paired with a major Finnish network, and hopes to set up a similar deal with a UK operator.

Industry analysts said Jolla faced a challenge in taking on a market dominated by Google and Apple.

Just 450 Jolla phones will be available at launch on Wednesday evening, with the majority going to customers who have pre-ordered the device.

Co-founder Marc Dillon told the BBC the company was in the process of ramping up manufacturing.

He said the phone's ethos was to provide a more "open" approach to how people used their mobiles, a contrast to the relatively closed systems used on the iPhone and, to a lesser extent, Android devices.

"There's different opportunities for people to get apps form different places, different stores," he said.

"We've created a world-class platform. Users will be getting more choice."

The platform - originally called MeeGo - was developed by Nokia, but dumped in 2011 in favour of the company adopting the Windows Phone system.

Nokia released just one handset running the software, the N9-00.

Antti Saarnio, chairman and co-founder of Jolla, told the BBC in May that MeeGo - now called Sailfish - had not been given enough chance to succeed.

"Everybody felt so strongly that they wanted to continue," he said.

Large parts of the Sailfish code were open-source, which meant anyone could expand and adapt the platform, Mr Dillon said.

"We are ramping up our Jolla community right now.

"There's already a Sailfish website so that developers can come and contribute."

David v Goliath

According to CCS Insight, 81% of smartphones shipped globally from July to September ran Google's Android software. Apple's iOS accounted for 13%.

Smaller players such as Blackberry, Microsoft and Mozilla made up the numbers.

Analyst Geoff Blaber, from CCS, said while it might seem Jolla was taking on an impossibly large challenge by trying to muscle in, its strategy could pay off.

"It's easy to characterise this as David v Goliath," he told the BBC. "But the fact is if Jolla can maintain a competitive cost base, there is already an enthusiast base seeking this product. It could be successful."

But Mr Blaber added the handset was a means to an end, and that Jolla's long-term strategy was to create a operating system it could licence to other manufacturers.

"This is the challenge," he said.

"At the moment we have a situation where Android is utterly dominant. They've got to prove the software is competitive and it works."

Jolla may also be buoyed by support in its home country as a result of Microsoft's planned buy-out of Nokia.

Jolla co-founder Mr Dillion said he was getting "stopped everywhere I go".

"We're not trying to piggy-back, but we have seen a bump," said Mr Dillon. "We've had a lot of support in Finland."

Mr Blaber added: "This is the 'what might have been' scenario had Nokia not gone down the Microsoft road with Windows Phone."

Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC

Source: BBC

Airtel picture

From left: Executive Vice Chairman Oshodi/Isolo LGA ,Honourable Daise Osho; Executive Idera Market Mafoluku; Honourable Ishola; Executive Chairman Oshodi/Isolo LGA Honourable Bolaji Muse Ariyo; The Elewu of Ewu Land Mafoluku, HRH Oba Adeshina Kuti ; Mrs Adeshina Kuti; Mrs Taiwo Arowojobe, Iya loja General Oshodi/ Isolo; Head Retail Showroom and Franchise, Airtel, Tolulope Tope-Awofeko Zonal Business Manager Airtel Ayo Oguranti at the commissioning of Airtel Express Shop, Oshodi recently.

From left: Honourable Minister of Communications Technology, Omobola Johnson; First Lady of Nigeria, Dame Patience Jonathan and Airtel’s Director: Regulatory Affairs & Special Projects, Osondu Nwokoro at the International Telecommunication Union Telecom World 2013, held in Bangkok, Thailand, recently.

From left: Honourable Minister of Communications Technology, Omobola Johnson; First Lady of Nigeria, Dame Patience Jonathan and Airtel’s Director: Regulatory Affairs & Special Projects, Osondu Nwokoro at the International Telecommunication Union Telecom World 2013, held in Bangkok, Thailand, recently.

Commissioner of Education, Ogun State, Barr. John Olusegun Odubela presenting books, uniforms and bag to a pupil of St. John’s Anglican Church School, Oke Agbo, Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State. With him are Airtel’s Regional Operations Director, Bayo Osinowo and Zonal Business Manager, Akinloye Adebisi during the handover of borehole and presentation of gifts to pupils of the school.

Commissioner of Education, Ogun State, Barr. John Olusegun Odubela presenting books, uniforms and bag to a pupil of St. John’s Anglican Church School, Oke Agbo, Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State. With him are Airtel’s Regional Operations Director, Bayo Osinowo and Zonal Business Manager, Akinloye Adebisi during the handover of borehole and presentation of gifts to pupils of the school.

Google to pay $17 million to settle states' Safari probe

By Alexei Oreskovic

　

Google Inc will pay $17 million to settle allegations by 37 states and the District of Colombia that it secretly tracked Web users by placing special digital files on the Web browsers of their smartphones.

The deal, announced Monday morning, ends a nearly two-year probe by the states into allegations that Google bypassed the privacy settings of customers using Apple Inc's Safari Web browser by placing "cookies" into the browser.

Cookies are special files that allow websites and advertisers to identify individual Web surfers and track their browsing habits.

The Safari Web browser used on iPhones and iPads automatically blocks third-party cookies, but Google altered the computer code of its cookies and was able to circumvent the blocks between June 2011 and February 2012, according to the states' allegations.

Google, which did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement, said on Monday that it has "taken steps to remove the ad cookies, which collected no personal information, from Apple's browsers."

The company agreed to pay $22 million in August 2012 to settle a probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission relating to the same matter.

Google, the world's No. 1 Internet search engine, generated revenue of some $50 billion in 2012, mostly through advertising.

Under the terms of Monday's deal, Google agreed not to use the type of code capable of overriding browser settings without user consent, unless for security, fraud or technical issues. It also agreed to provide consumers with more information about cookies for the next five years.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by John Wallace)

Source: Reuters

Nokia shareholders expected to approve Microsoft deal

By Ritsuko Ando

　

Nokia shareholders are expected to approve the sale of its mobile phone business to Microsoft on Tuesday, with the deal's financial benefits likely to outweigh resistance from a minority of investors upset over the sale of a Finnish national icon.

Nokia agreed in September to sell its devices and services business and license its patents to Microsoft for 5.44 billion euros ($7.36 billion) after failing to recover from a late start in smartphones.

The sale, which is expected to close in the first quarter of next year after regulatory approvals, is set to boost Nokia's net cash position to nearly 8 billion euros from around 2 billion in the third quarter and allow it to return cash to shareholders, possibly through a special dividend.

Without the loss-making handset business, the remaining company will earn over 90 percent of sales from telecom equipment unit Nokia Services and Networks (NSN) and will also include a navigation software business and a trove of patents.

Since the Microsoft deal was announced, Nokia shares have doubled, closing at 6.00 euros on Monday.

Last year, they fell as far as 1.33 euros, a level not seen since 1994, on worries the mobile phone business would burn through cash before it could ever catch up with rivals such as Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc.

Billionaire and activist investor Daniel Loeb said in October that he had taken a position in Nokia and that he expects a "meaningful portion of the excess" cash from the Microsoft deal to be returned to investors.

While approval from shareholders is considered a done deal, Tuesday's meeting, which starts at 2:00 p.m. (1200 GMT) in Helsinki's Ice Hall arena, will also be a chance for some shareholders to vent their dissatisfaction.

The sale of the mobile phones business, Finland's biggest brand and at one point worth 4 percent of national GDP, came as a shock to many Finns. The company's success helped to transform Finland from a backwater economy in the shadow of the Soviet Union into a high-tech powerhouse.

At Nokia's last regular shareholders' meeting, many shareholders took to the microphone to question CEO Stephen Elop's strategy, particularly his 2011 decision to adopt Microsoft's Windows Phone software over Nokia's own Symbian or Google's widely popular Android operating system.

Elop stepped down when he announced the agreement with Microsoft, his former employer, and is due to return to the Redmond, Washington company when the deal closes.

Finnish tabloids have called him a "Trojan horse", although most analysts have been sympathetic, saying there were few good options for the company by the time he was hired in late 2010.

One Finnish businessman and former Nokia manager had set up a group called Nokita, translated as "bet higher" in Finnish, in an attempt to outbid Microsoft. He said on Monday that he failed to find enough investors.

"Of course there was a bit of a patriotic idea behind my plan, but there was also the calculation," said Juhani Parda, who believed Nokia's devices business could be worth around 23 billion euros in three years by adopting Android in addition to Windows Phone. "I think 5.44 billion is definitely good for Microsoft. I'm not sure it's the best deal for shareholders."

Source: Reuters

NCC proposes open access models for broadband acceleration

Nigeria’s regulator has released a document outlining new broadband structures to boost penetration.

In its Open Access Next Generation Fibre Optics Broadband industry consultation paper, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) proposes the establishment of a national infrastructure company or companies to accelerate the deployment of broadband networks. The paper is based on consultations with industry stakeholders and also addresses the question of last mile access, through the issuance of available 2.3GHz spectrum to complement existing solutions.

Noting that the Commission is committed to putting in place a new broadband deployment environment through an ‘Open Access Model’ in line with the National Broadband Plan, NCC says the "Open Access Model" has been examined as the model for optic fibre transmission network deployment to bridge the current gap and deliver fast and reliable broadband services to households and businesses. The model is also envisaged to address the challenges of congested and unplanned towns, the challenges around infrastructure sharing and other issues such as high cost of Right of Way.

The document proposes an industry model including a licensed InfraCo or InfraCos to achieve the objective of a nationwide broadband metropolitan and backbone deployment on an open access, non-discriminatory basis.

It says InfraCos would:

* Provide wholesale Layer 2 transmission services on a non discriminatory, open access, price regulated basis. InfraCos may also provide Layer 1 (dark fibre) services on commercial basis.

* Focus on the deployment of metropolitan fibre and provide transmission services, available at access points (Fibre to the Node or Neighborhood - FTTN) to access seekers

* Leverage existing inter-city fibre to deploy their services

* Purchase/lease transmission or long haul fibre capacity from other providers, where available, for the purpose of interconnection

The NCC says: "The proposed industry structure offers InfraCos as entities that complement the existing industry players by focussing on the market gap (primarily metropolitan fibre) and offering non-discriminatory open access wholesale bandwidth services to the industry players. This is expected to offer uplift in the business plans of the existing players while achieving the national objectives of deeper penetration and higher broadband services take-up in the country."




Source: Biztech Africa

From left: Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya; Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Ayo Gbeleyi and Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Diamond Bank, Alex Otti at a special reception in honour of the Lagos State Commissioner by Airtel Nigeria, yesterday, in Victoria Island, Lagos.

From left: Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya; Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Ayo Gbeleyi and Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Diamond Bank, Alex Otti at a special reception in honour of the Lagos State Commissioner by Airtel Nigeria, yesterday, in Victoria Island, Lagos.

Third from left, Director, Corporate Communications and CSR, Airtel Nigeria, Mr Emeka Oparah at the Press Conference of the Lagos State Countdown held at the headquarters of Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LASAA). With him are Nollywood Actress, Funke Akindele; Managing Director, Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LASAA) Mr George Noah and Head, Communications & PR, Multi-Choice Nigeria, Mr Segun Fayose at the event.

Third from left, Director, Corporate Communications and CSR, Airtel Nigeria, Mr Emeka Oparah at the Press Conference of the Lagos State Countdown held at the headquarters of Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LASAA). With him are Nollywood Actress, Funke Akindele; Managing Director, Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LASAA) Mr George Noah and Head, Communications & PR, Multi-Choice Nigeria, Mr Segun Fayose at the event.

SkyVision to unveil new cloud services

SkyVision Global Networks Limited yesterday announced its launch of a full suite of Cloud services and solutions. The official launch will take place at AfricaCom 2013, November 12-14, Cape Town, Booth C14. AfricaCom is an integral part of the company’s ongoing commitment to expanding its activity within the telco market and throughout Africa.

SkyVision’s success in Africa is the result of a comprehensive network of local partners and representatives, and SkyVision offices in Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, Guinea Conakry, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Morocco.

As a leading service provider in Africa, SkyVision provides viable solutions that help African companies, organizations and service providers  develop their ICT capabilities, increase their productivity and profitability, and the level of service they provide to their customers.

SkyVision cloud-based solutions will enable customers to reduce overall IT expenses by deploying new applications without having to purchase additional hardware, software licenses, or be concern with scale up/scale down their computing and storage resources.

 In addition SkyVision will introduce a new mobile application for its voice services. SkyVision’s voice services provide high quality and cost effective international and interbranch voice connectivity. With the addition of the new SkyVision Voice line mobile app, SkyVision customers can now use the same service account at their office, from their laptop using our softphone application and on the go from their mobile device using the new mobile app.

SkyVision Chief Executive Officer Doron Ben Sira, said “Deploying efficient, effective infrastructure and solutions when limited resources are available, is a challenging task and a key enabler for diffusing ICT in developing countries.

“We are especially proud to be taking part in this continent-wide event where we can reach out to customers, prospects, policy makers and practitioners in ICT with a viable cloud-based solution. AfricaCom gives us the perfect stage to promote our corporate cloud services, uniquely tailored to meet the needs of e-Governance, e-Infrastructure, and e-Business customers.”

SkyVision is a leading global IP telecommunication service provider to emerging markets, offering solutions over satellite and fiber optic network systems. SkyVision’s focus is on global IP connectivity services for customers that include incumbent telecoms, ISPs, cellular operators, global and local enterprises, government entities and NGOs in over 50 countries. With an emphasis on its customers’ local or regional requirements, SkyVision offers superior network connectivity solutions. Known for its innovative approach, the company offers an extensive suite of both customized solutions and industry-standard services for end-to-end IP connectivity, managed from its international gateways and selected local hubs. SkyVision’s global-reaching network connects its customers to the Internet backbone with more than ten satellite platforms and a network of high-capacity fiber optic cables, via its gateways in Europe, North America and the Middle East as well as multiple points of presence (POPs) in Africa. SkyVision currently commands a satellite and fiber network IP connectivity spanning 100 countries. The company’s C-Band and Ku-Band  VSAT network solutions draw on SkyVision’s extensive space segment inventory from leading satellite providers and its capacity is carefully tailored to customers’ individual needs for optimal cost-effectiveness. Please visit www.skyvision.net