FG told to set-up national software testing centre
Ben Uzor Jr
Cleopas Anganye, director-general, National Information Technology Development Agency has advised the Federal Government to establish a national software testing centre that would certify all locally developed software in the country to ensure that they conform strictly to international standards. This, he further pointed out would strategically position the nation’s software industry for global competitiveness as the industry has indisputably become an essential resource for intellectual capital, investment opportunities and value creation in any given economy. Angaye made these disclosures, Friday in Lagos while briefing newsmen on his facility tour of Computer Warehouse Group (CWG), an indigenous Information Technology company. The NITDA DG also harped on the importance of setting up this software testing centre, stating that the quality of software and its conformations to requirements and standards underlines its effectiveness and competitiveness in the international markets. In explaining what functions the software testing centre would perform, he noted that it test software product’s user-friendliness, stability, security and its adherence to functional and performance requirements. “We need to set-up a world-class software testing centre in Nigeria. We need to actually get more people to use our software to convince themselves that Nigerian software solutions can meet international requirements. This would make our products much more competitive in the market. Most of the software’s we produce are very good. If I am outside the country and I write a software and send, you may not even know it was written by a Nigerian. If I have a company here and write people may not even patronize it. “Some of our companies even go outside the country to write software, brand it with foreign companies and bring them in, which is sad. This is because software testing in the country is not yet authenticated. We have been working on that authentication of made in Nigeria software. When it is authenticated internationally, it is as good as writing software in the United States. This is what India did”, he posited. Still on what the agency is doing to aid software development in the country, Angaye disclosed that NITDA is considering the development of a content policy that would make it mandatory for firms operating in the critical sectors of the economy (Oil and Gas, Banking and Finance, Telecommunications) to power certain vital processes with locally developed software solutions. According to him, this would compel these companies to invest in the development and further improvement of those solutions to meet international standards. However, software practitioners in the country has blamed the industry’s snail speed development majorly on government’s low level of participation in the area of ineffective policy formulation and providing infrastructures to aid software development. Also, they say that government’s refusal to increase tariffs on imported software to discourage import has also helped to repress the industry’s growth and development.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
New Generation stakes $2.5b to win NITEL as MTN offers $25m for SAT-3
New Generation stakes $2.5b to win NITEL as MTN offers $25m for SAT-3
New Generation Telecommunications Ltd (formerly Telefonica Consortium), consortium believed to be backed by Theophilus Danjuma, a former Defence Minister during the regime of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, this afternoon staked a $2.5billion winning bid for the Nigerian Telecommunication Limited at the opening of financial bids for the nation’s pioneer national operator in Abuja. Also South Africa’s MTN, the lone bidder for the company’s unbundled SAT-3 business unit, was successful with its $25million offer for the bandwidth business of the ailing telecoms company. New Generation Telecommunications Ltd emerged successful over rival bidders including Brymedia (WA) Ltd; AF21/ Spectrum Consortium; and Omen International Ltd (BVI) in a last-ditch move by government to revive the fortune of the telecoms company. Privatisation agency, the Bureau of Public Enterprises says the bid by MTN will be approved by the National Council on Privatisation subject to meeting the reserve price for SAT-3. Analysts are quick to note that the acqusition of SAT-3 by MTN will further drive tougher competition in the market for data services as mobile operators eye stakes in mobile Internet projected to be the next phase of the telecoms boom in Nigeria. Globacom, the second national operator, which is set to go live with its Glo 1 submarine cable also promotes Glo mobile, the number two mobile operator by subscriber number while MTN is the market leader.
New Generation Telecommunications Ltd (formerly Telefonica Consortium), consortium believed to be backed by Theophilus Danjuma, a former Defence Minister during the regime of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, this afternoon staked a $2.5billion winning bid for the Nigerian Telecommunication Limited at the opening of financial bids for the nation’s pioneer national operator in Abuja. Also South Africa’s MTN, the lone bidder for the company’s unbundled SAT-3 business unit, was successful with its $25million offer for the bandwidth business of the ailing telecoms company. New Generation Telecommunications Ltd emerged successful over rival bidders including Brymedia (WA) Ltd; AF21/ Spectrum Consortium; and Omen International Ltd (BVI) in a last-ditch move by government to revive the fortune of the telecoms company. Privatisation agency, the Bureau of Public Enterprises says the bid by MTN will be approved by the National Council on Privatisation subject to meeting the reserve price for SAT-3. Analysts are quick to note that the acqusition of SAT-3 by MTN will further drive tougher competition in the market for data services as mobile operators eye stakes in mobile Internet projected to be the next phase of the telecoms boom in Nigeria. Globacom, the second national operator, which is set to go live with its Glo 1 submarine cable also promotes Glo mobile, the number two mobile operator by subscriber number while MTN is the market leader.
Alvarion says, 2010 is the year of WiMAX
Alvarion says, 2010 is the year of WiMAX
Ben Uzor Jr
With the endless availability of information and a degree of uncertainty in terms of where the worldwide economy is headed, Alvarion, a global provider of WiMax solutions with the most extensive customer base and over 250 commercial deployments around the globe, has predicted that 2010 will be the year of WiMAX (Worldwide Inter-operability for Microwave Access). According to the WiMAX Equipment, Devices and Subscribers forecast report by Infonetics Research, the number of global WiMAX subscribers is expected to grow from 4 million at present to 130 million subscribers by 2013. Nearly every developing country currently has a WiMAX network and this demand for wireless Internet access is expected to exponentially increase in the future. Daniel Levy, general manager, Africa and Middle East at Alvarion pointed out that there are already over 475 WiMAX networks deployed to date in 140 countries worldwide and although the numbers are debatable, there is no doubt that substantial growth and network expansion is taking off at very fast pace. “In addition to an increase in the number of networks traced by WiMAX, many of the already established WiMAX networks in Africa continue to rapidly expand.” According to him, WiMAX deployment and expansion will not ignore Africa because its popularity globally is matched by major momentum taking off in developing countries who are currently struggling to gain wireless internet capabilities. “Though poor infrastructure, insufficient resources, lack of knowledge and financial instability are major problems facing, developing countries, WiMAX has proven to be the best means of providing wireless Internet at broadband speeds – and looking ahead at the ways in which WiMAX will benefit additional countries in the future is a hopeful and exciting prospect”, Levy further added. Industry watchers expect to see variety of WiMAX enabled devices in 2010 as a result of the maturing vendor ecosystem and the activities telecom networks. In addition, the increase of WiMAX subscribers and larger build outs by operators would mean further declines in WiMAX CPE prices. On the infrastructure side, another area of expected change is the increased use of beam forming technology complimenting MIMO in WiMAX base stations to reduce total network cost and increase performance. Until recently, the traditional thinking was that WiMAX base stations using beam forming was too expensive. While it is true that a beamforming base station adds more to the cost of equipment, beamforming can also significantly increase the throughput under certain conditions.
Ben Uzor Jr
With the endless availability of information and a degree of uncertainty in terms of where the worldwide economy is headed, Alvarion, a global provider of WiMax solutions with the most extensive customer base and over 250 commercial deployments around the globe, has predicted that 2010 will be the year of WiMAX (Worldwide Inter-operability for Microwave Access). According to the WiMAX Equipment, Devices and Subscribers forecast report by Infonetics Research, the number of global WiMAX subscribers is expected to grow from 4 million at present to 130 million subscribers by 2013. Nearly every developing country currently has a WiMAX network and this demand for wireless Internet access is expected to exponentially increase in the future. Daniel Levy, general manager, Africa and Middle East at Alvarion pointed out that there are already over 475 WiMAX networks deployed to date in 140 countries worldwide and although the numbers are debatable, there is no doubt that substantial growth and network expansion is taking off at very fast pace. “In addition to an increase in the number of networks traced by WiMAX, many of the already established WiMAX networks in Africa continue to rapidly expand.” According to him, WiMAX deployment and expansion will not ignore Africa because its popularity globally is matched by major momentum taking off in developing countries who are currently struggling to gain wireless internet capabilities. “Though poor infrastructure, insufficient resources, lack of knowledge and financial instability are major problems facing, developing countries, WiMAX has proven to be the best means of providing wireless Internet at broadband speeds – and looking ahead at the ways in which WiMAX will benefit additional countries in the future is a hopeful and exciting prospect”, Levy further added. Industry watchers expect to see variety of WiMAX enabled devices in 2010 as a result of the maturing vendor ecosystem and the activities telecom networks. In addition, the increase of WiMAX subscribers and larger build outs by operators would mean further declines in WiMAX CPE prices. On the infrastructure side, another area of expected change is the increased use of beam forming technology complimenting MIMO in WiMAX base stations to reduce total network cost and increase performance. Until recently, the traditional thinking was that WiMAX base stations using beam forming was too expensive. While it is true that a beamforming base station adds more to the cost of equipment, beamforming can also significantly increase the throughput under certain conditions.
NCC says more telecoms firms are distressed
NCC says more telecoms firms are distressed
Ben Uzor Jr
Ernest Ndukwe, Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has revealed that more telecommunications companies operating in Nigeria are showing disturbing signs of distress. According to Ndukwe, this is as a result issues revolving around poor corporate governance structure, wrong business decisions and the management style employed in the economic crisis. Currently, there are four telecom companies operating in the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) space namely; Starcomms, Visafone, Multilinks-Telkom and ZoomMobile. On the other hand, MTN, Zain, Globacom, M-Tel and latest entrant Etisalat operate in the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) sphere of the industry. Speaking on Wednesday in Lagos at the 2010 Exemplary Leadership Lecture organised by the Leadership and Role Model Foundation of Nigeria (LRMFN) under the distinguished chairmanship of the former Minister of Information and culture, Tony Momoh, Ndukwe maintained that the nation could not afford the collapse of any operating company. In explaining how the present banking reforms had severely affected the telecom industry, the EVC boss observed that the most operating companies cannot access requisite finances needed for expansion and network rollouts from financial institutions. According to him, banks have become stricter in lending to telecoms operators and this had adversely affected their profitability in the preceding year. Ndukwe had earlier in the month disclosed that the telecom industry grew phone lines by 10 million in 2009 as against the 20 million recorded in 2008. “It is more of the effect of the global economic meltdown. Operators do not have enough finance to rollout new networks in areas they have not been before. Also, they don’t have enough money to improve their services. Many of the smaller operators, even the bigger ones are finding it difficult to access loans from the banks at the moment”, he pointed out. Alluding to the need for companies showing signs of distress to impose upon themselves strict culture of operational risk and assessment, Ndukwe observed that inward looking companies should also adopt benchmarks, as they provide insights into the performance secrets of successful competing companies, their business practices that have helped them attain success. In his paper presentation entitled: ‘Team Playing and Bridge Building: An Appraisal of the Success factors for Sustaining the Telecom Revolution in Nigeria’ he said: “Issues of corporate governance, as they relate to assessment of risk, executive remuneration, strategic corporate direction, transparency and others, will need to be resolved effectively if organisations are to overcome the crisis and prevent collapse. We can ill afford the collapse of any operating company”, he posited. Business Day had earlier reported that telcos are consequently devising cost saving and other survival measures. Some of the telcos are engaging in staff rationalization, increasingly farming out non-core operations and staff, piling up interconnectivity debts and engaging in creative promotions and direct marketing schemes, aimed at further growing their subscriber bases, so they can better enjoy lower operating costs accruing from the economies of scale.
Ben Uzor Jr
Ernest Ndukwe, Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has revealed that more telecommunications companies operating in Nigeria are showing disturbing signs of distress. According to Ndukwe, this is as a result issues revolving around poor corporate governance structure, wrong business decisions and the management style employed in the economic crisis. Currently, there are four telecom companies operating in the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) space namely; Starcomms, Visafone, Multilinks-Telkom and ZoomMobile. On the other hand, MTN, Zain, Globacom, M-Tel and latest entrant Etisalat operate in the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) sphere of the industry. Speaking on Wednesday in Lagos at the 2010 Exemplary Leadership Lecture organised by the Leadership and Role Model Foundation of Nigeria (LRMFN) under the distinguished chairmanship of the former Minister of Information and culture, Tony Momoh, Ndukwe maintained that the nation could not afford the collapse of any operating company. In explaining how the present banking reforms had severely affected the telecom industry, the EVC boss observed that the most operating companies cannot access requisite finances needed for expansion and network rollouts from financial institutions. According to him, banks have become stricter in lending to telecoms operators and this had adversely affected their profitability in the preceding year. Ndukwe had earlier in the month disclosed that the telecom industry grew phone lines by 10 million in 2009 as against the 20 million recorded in 2008. “It is more of the effect of the global economic meltdown. Operators do not have enough finance to rollout new networks in areas they have not been before. Also, they don’t have enough money to improve their services. Many of the smaller operators, even the bigger ones are finding it difficult to access loans from the banks at the moment”, he pointed out. Alluding to the need for companies showing signs of distress to impose upon themselves strict culture of operational risk and assessment, Ndukwe observed that inward looking companies should also adopt benchmarks, as they provide insights into the performance secrets of successful competing companies, their business practices that have helped them attain success. In his paper presentation entitled: ‘Team Playing and Bridge Building: An Appraisal of the Success factors for Sustaining the Telecom Revolution in Nigeria’ he said: “Issues of corporate governance, as they relate to assessment of risk, executive remuneration, strategic corporate direction, transparency and others, will need to be resolved effectively if organisations are to overcome the crisis and prevent collapse. We can ill afford the collapse of any operating company”, he posited. Business Day had earlier reported that telcos are consequently devising cost saving and other survival measures. Some of the telcos are engaging in staff rationalization, increasingly farming out non-core operations and staff, piling up interconnectivity debts and engaging in creative promotions and direct marketing schemes, aimed at further growing their subscriber bases, so they can better enjoy lower operating costs accruing from the economies of scale.
Why Nigeria may not benefit from submarine cable systems
Why Nigeria may not benefit from submarine cable systems
Ben Uzor Jr
With the plethora of submarine cable systems expected to hit the shores of Nigeria by 2011, the federal government has remained flaccid in the area of encouraging investments geared towards strengthening and constructing national and cross-border fibre transmission backbone needed to aid distribution nationwide. Industry experts who spoke to BusinessDay have criticised the governments’ approach, labeling it as counter-productive to economic development as majority of the Nigerian population would still be denied access to ‘true’ and affordable broadband services. According to them, the immense bandwidth emanating from these cables would remain under-utilised and only serve the coastal areas therefore no significant improvements in Nigeria’s penetration rates. Available data from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) reveals that out of about 140 million Nigerians only 11 million (7.4 percent of the population) have access to the internet. Low broadband access, experts have said accounted for the snail-speed growth of the internet not only in Nigeria but across the entire African continent. Lanre Ajayi, president, Nigerian Internet Group (NIG) who also spoke with Business Day in a telephone conversation expressed concerns about insufficient adequate national fibre optic backbone to complement the cable initiative landing in the country. According to him, both can engender positive changes in experiences in the telecoms industry. Ajayi further observed that the national fibre transmission backbone would assist in pushing bandwidth to the hinterland adding that it would advance the adoption of e-government, e-health and telemedicine, e-payment, e-learning. This would further imply that Nigeria would be able to embrace and court emerging and major convergent technologies such as IPTV (Internet Protocol Television), LTE (Long Term Evolution). To further buttress Ajayi’s opinion, Steve Evans, chief executive officer, Etisalat Nigeria who spoke to BusinessDay exclusively said: “Over the next two years there would be a lot of international capacity going to come on stream in Nigeria. The challenge is then ironically going to be do we have the backbone networks in the country to have sufficient bandwidth to take advantage of that.” He posited: “And also, have we got sufficient capacity in our radio network in order to take advantage of that new international capacity. I think today, the answer is that we probably haven’t got the capacity either in the radio networks or in the backbone transmission networks to really take advantage of the international capacity that is going to come available. So, clearly it is an area where government needs to try to encourage operators to invest more heavily going forward”.
Meanwhile, countries in Central Africa are already becoming proactive as regards tapping the huge cable potentials on the West African coast, BusinessDay can now reveal. The Chadian government has embarked on a fibre backbone project financed by the World Bank using existing fibre routes along the length of the Kome-Kribi oil pipelines and of building extensions to their capital, N’Djamena and to the Central African Republic. The project would allow both Chad and Central Africa Republic access to international fibre bandwidth on the west coast rather than being solely reliant on relatively expensive and not always reliable satellite bandwidth.
Ben Uzor Jr
With the plethora of submarine cable systems expected to hit the shores of Nigeria by 2011, the federal government has remained flaccid in the area of encouraging investments geared towards strengthening and constructing national and cross-border fibre transmission backbone needed to aid distribution nationwide. Industry experts who spoke to BusinessDay have criticised the governments’ approach, labeling it as counter-productive to economic development as majority of the Nigerian population would still be denied access to ‘true’ and affordable broadband services. According to them, the immense bandwidth emanating from these cables would remain under-utilised and only serve the coastal areas therefore no significant improvements in Nigeria’s penetration rates. Available data from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) reveals that out of about 140 million Nigerians only 11 million (7.4 percent of the population) have access to the internet. Low broadband access, experts have said accounted for the snail-speed growth of the internet not only in Nigeria but across the entire African continent. Lanre Ajayi, president, Nigerian Internet Group (NIG) who also spoke with Business Day in a telephone conversation expressed concerns about insufficient adequate national fibre optic backbone to complement the cable initiative landing in the country. According to him, both can engender positive changes in experiences in the telecoms industry. Ajayi further observed that the national fibre transmission backbone would assist in pushing bandwidth to the hinterland adding that it would advance the adoption of e-government, e-health and telemedicine, e-payment, e-learning. This would further imply that Nigeria would be able to embrace and court emerging and major convergent technologies such as IPTV (Internet Protocol Television), LTE (Long Term Evolution). To further buttress Ajayi’s opinion, Steve Evans, chief executive officer, Etisalat Nigeria who spoke to BusinessDay exclusively said: “Over the next two years there would be a lot of international capacity going to come on stream in Nigeria. The challenge is then ironically going to be do we have the backbone networks in the country to have sufficient bandwidth to take advantage of that.” He posited: “And also, have we got sufficient capacity in our radio network in order to take advantage of that new international capacity. I think today, the answer is that we probably haven’t got the capacity either in the radio networks or in the backbone transmission networks to really take advantage of the international capacity that is going to come available. So, clearly it is an area where government needs to try to encourage operators to invest more heavily going forward”.
Meanwhile, countries in Central Africa are already becoming proactive as regards tapping the huge cable potentials on the West African coast, BusinessDay can now reveal. The Chadian government has embarked on a fibre backbone project financed by the World Bank using existing fibre routes along the length of the Kome-Kribi oil pipelines and of building extensions to their capital, N’Djamena and to the Central African Republic. The project would allow both Chad and Central Africa Republic access to international fibre bandwidth on the west coast rather than being solely reliant on relatively expensive and not always reliable satellite bandwidth.
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