. . . Etisalat goes live on MainOne
Ben Uzor Jr
Nigeria may indeed be positioning herself to become the most important supplier of critical international bandwidth in sub-Saharan Africa, analysts have said. Given the number of submarine cables expected to berth on the country’s shores in 2011, industry experts say that Nigeria could provide the broadband capacity needed to expand internet access in the region.
According to them, Nigeria’s imminent bandwidth boom has created a viable opportunity for telecommunications companies (telcos) operating in the country to generate significant revenue from supplying bandwidth to other countries in the sub-Saharan region that are heavily dependent on expensive satellite (VSAT) communications. Meanwhile, MainOne Cable has announced Etisalat as the first telecommunications company to switch on its network on the strength of the cutting-edge technology recently launched in the country by MainOne.
Etisalat also announced that new and existing customers on Etisalat network are set to enjoy enhanced service as the innovative telecommunications company is now live on the submarine fibre optic cable system. Etisalat CEO, Steven Evans said that with the latest technology, customers on Etisalat network will have the benefit of increased broadband and enhanced data services.
BusinessDay gathered that over 11.2 terabits of bandwidth would be available to the Nigerian market by 2011. The bandwidth boom is being powered by West African Cable System (WACS) - an initiative operated by nine countries (including Nigeria’s MTN Group), which comes with a high capacity submarine cable system linking Europe, West Africa and South Africa, and will provide over 3.8 terabits per second of bandwidth.
Furthermore, Glo-1 which is ready for commissioning and has customised services to address the requirements of a wide segment of clients - including telecommunications operators, oil and gas companies, manufacturers, education and medical institutions, will provide 2.5 terabits of bandwidth. In addition, Main One’s commercial director, Bernard Logan, has announced plans for the provision of outstanding 4.92 terabits per second of bandwidth.
The outstanding provision will push well above the broadband capacity of existing competitors. Lanre Ajayi, president, Nigerian Internet Group (NIG), who spoke to BusinessDay on telephone, said Nigeria could become the number one supplier of international capacity in Africa if more competition is encouraged in the cable market. “We already have two cables now.
We are expecting more, WACS and ACE cables are expected to berth in the country in 2011. With this, I can say that Nigeria will become one of the leading suppliers of bandwidth in Africa, outside South Africa. “Presently, South Africa has an advantage over us because they have a number of cables coming in from the east and west coast. I think we still need to encourage more competition in the industry for us to achieve that pinnacle of success”, he explained.
Echoing the same view, Kenneth Omeruo, an internet analyst, stated: “If more cables continue to land in the country, then Nigeria will attain that height. You see, most of these cables coming into Nigeria will provide wholesale bandwidth to neighbouring African retail carriers who will buy a portion of bandwidth and also sell this capacity to end-users. These end-users will, in turn, be able to access the internet at international broadband speeds and at more affordable prices, creating a wealth of opportunities for important sectors such as education, healthcare and government services”.
Giving further insight into the complexities inherent in the submarine cable market, Emmanuel Ekuwem, former president of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), pointed out that the possibility of Nigeria reaching that position would depend strongly on sound business plan and heightened investments in fibre optic cable infrastructure.
“Nigeria can only supply countries on the coastline. But for countries in land-locked areas like Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Niger and Chad, the question will be how to push the bandwidth to the hinterlands. Glo 1 and Main One will definitely be looking at doing business with telecom companies (telcos) in these countries. But this will also imply that huge investments will be made in VSAT technology and cross-national terrestrial fibre backbone. I know most telcos will want to stick with fibre than satellite technology, therein lies the problem.
“Telecommunications companies in Nigeria will have to get licenses to offer these services. They will have to partner strategically with the telecom companies in these African countries. Besides, it will be cost effective for these countries to leverage on these emerging cable systems like Main One and Glo -1 than to make huge investment in laying a cable from Europe to their respective countries. It all boils down to proper business plan and further investment in cable infrastructure”, he explained.
Muhammed Rudman, chief executive officer, Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) who spoke to BusinessDay was stoutly in support of Ekuwem’s view that Nigeria’s prospect of becoming a leading supplier of international bandwidth capacity in sub-Saharan Africa will depend on investments in cross-border fibre networks. “This could be possible if Nigeria becomes more proactive and starts to invest in terrestrial transmission cables that can service landlocked countries in the region. This is very critical because most of these cables will have landing points in some of the countries on the region.”
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Ikemefuna nominated as new EVC of NCC
The dust over who heads the regulatory body, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), appears to be settling with the recent nomination of Ikemefuna Juwa, a telecommunications engineer as the executive vice-chairman of the Commission. The succession tussle which started with the exit of its former EVC, Ernest Ndukwe has generated so much controversy that many have wondered if the sector was having a dearth of professionals to fill the post.
Also questions have arisen on why the federal government was taking such a long time to address the issue. At the centre of the controversy was the appointment of Bashir Gwandu by the Head of Service of the Federation, Steve Oronsaye, as the new EVC while an existing one, Stephen Bello was still on seat. Bello had been acting as the executive vice-chairman following the exit of Ndukwe in April. But all that have been laid to rest now.
In his response to the nomination, Titi Omo-Ettu, president, Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), said it was a welcome development and lauded the appointment. According to him: “Yes, if Ikemefuna Juwa is the Eugene Juwa that I know, he is a fitting and very ready material for the job. Intellectually and in industry equipment, he is round.
“If the time it has taken to find the candidate was meant to get one of the fine guys around, I think we can forgive the uneasy delay that has come to a good end.” Omo-Ettu added that, this is the kind of candidate Nigerians say is a “round peg in a round hole.” He said what is left now is the confirmation of the nomination by Senate. If the nomination of Ikemefuna sails through senate, he becomes the substantial EVC of the apex regulatory body. The nomination is one among the three positions which are to be filled on the Board of the NCC.
Also questions have arisen on why the federal government was taking such a long time to address the issue. At the centre of the controversy was the appointment of Bashir Gwandu by the Head of Service of the Federation, Steve Oronsaye, as the new EVC while an existing one, Stephen Bello was still on seat. Bello had been acting as the executive vice-chairman following the exit of Ndukwe in April. But all that have been laid to rest now.
In his response to the nomination, Titi Omo-Ettu, president, Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), said it was a welcome development and lauded the appointment. According to him: “Yes, if Ikemefuna Juwa is the Eugene Juwa that I know, he is a fitting and very ready material for the job. Intellectually and in industry equipment, he is round.
“If the time it has taken to find the candidate was meant to get one of the fine guys around, I think we can forgive the uneasy delay that has come to a good end.” Omo-Ettu added that, this is the kind of candidate Nigerians say is a “round peg in a round hole.” He said what is left now is the confirmation of the nomination by Senate. If the nomination of Ikemefuna sails through senate, he becomes the substantial EVC of the apex regulatory body. The nomination is one among the three positions which are to be filled on the Board of the NCC.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Nigeria’s Internet gathers speed as Main One Cable goes commercial
Increased access and connectivity, lower cost expected
Ben Uzor Jr
The commercial launch of Main One Cable yesterday has opened a new era in Nigeria’s internet access market, with promises of new terabits up-grades that beat analysts’ expectations and have begun to erase doubts that the cable company has its noose ahead in the crucial share of cable market. This comes after over 15 years of snail speed internet connectivity.
“This is an important step towards lower costs of international communication and significant expansion of internet access”, says Funke Opeke, chief officer, Main One Cable. As stakeholders gathered at the launch, the firm’s commercial director, Bernard Logan, announced plans for the provision of outstanding 4.92 terabits per second of bandwidth. The outstanding provision will push well above the broadband capacity of existing competitors. The firm had earlier pledged to offer 1.9 terabits of international capacity. It was gathered that ten operators have already signed up with Main One for capacity.
Leading the pack, BusinessDay learnt, is Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) provider, MTN Nigeria, Etisalat Nigeria, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operator, and Starcomms Plc. As at today, 40 gigabits of bandwidth is already available to the Nigerian market. Experts declared that the completion of the project was an important step towards lowering the cost of international communications and improving internet speeds.
Most of them agreed that the emergence of the cable system will have a multiplier effect on the Nigerian economy as it would boost the adoption of new and emerging technologies such as IPTV ( Internet Protocol Television), LTE (Long Term Evolution), VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), among others. According to them, the commencement of commercial services would go a long way in ushering in the much anticipated broadband boom Nigerians have been yearning for.
“We clearly see the cost of international communications coming down, and the cost of internet access coming down”, Funke told the audience, which included the Lagos governor, Babatunde Fashola, and the acting executive vice chairman of the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), Bashir Gwandu.
“We just talked about getting information to your trading partners for example. So, now, the cost for you to do that should come down, the speed and reliability at which you should do that is much improved”. Funke was also hopeful that the cost of doing business in Nigeria will come down with the cable on ground. “For industries looking for technology, looking for partners, looking to source offshore, they have the ability to access any global market off the internet and source for the most competitive. It really opens up tremendous opportunities for the economy”, she further explained.
Commenting on the commission’s contribution towards the actualisation of the project, Bashir Gwandu, the NCC executive stated: “At NCC, when Funke came to us for license, we cut down the price. We normally give out licences for $50 million for international gateway. We brought it down to $25 million. What we are seeing here today is a huge change in terms of reducing the price of internet services. The task before us is to make sure we maximise the use of that cable. We want to see broadband prices going down for Nigerian consumers”.
“This is a dream unfolding for me because when I came back to Nigeria in 2006, some of the things I mentioned are actually happening today. I called on the industry at the time to start thinking of deploying optical fibre, not only to international links but also to national links and local loops. This is just the beginning. We all know what we have been going through with SAT-3; we are now beginning to see a difference. Main One is clearly leading the race. There are two more cables coming on board but the clear leader is Main One. There are also other cables like Glo-1 and WACS coming to the shores of Nigeria. All these are in answer to some of the calls we have made”, he said.
Ben Uzor Jr
The commercial launch of Main One Cable yesterday has opened a new era in Nigeria’s internet access market, with promises of new terabits up-grades that beat analysts’ expectations and have begun to erase doubts that the cable company has its noose ahead in the crucial share of cable market. This comes after over 15 years of snail speed internet connectivity.
“This is an important step towards lower costs of international communication and significant expansion of internet access”, says Funke Opeke, chief officer, Main One Cable. As stakeholders gathered at the launch, the firm’s commercial director, Bernard Logan, announced plans for the provision of outstanding 4.92 terabits per second of bandwidth. The outstanding provision will push well above the broadband capacity of existing competitors. The firm had earlier pledged to offer 1.9 terabits of international capacity. It was gathered that ten operators have already signed up with Main One for capacity.
Leading the pack, BusinessDay learnt, is Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) provider, MTN Nigeria, Etisalat Nigeria, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operator, and Starcomms Plc. As at today, 40 gigabits of bandwidth is already available to the Nigerian market. Experts declared that the completion of the project was an important step towards lowering the cost of international communications and improving internet speeds.
Most of them agreed that the emergence of the cable system will have a multiplier effect on the Nigerian economy as it would boost the adoption of new and emerging technologies such as IPTV ( Internet Protocol Television), LTE (Long Term Evolution), VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), among others. According to them, the commencement of commercial services would go a long way in ushering in the much anticipated broadband boom Nigerians have been yearning for.
“We clearly see the cost of international communications coming down, and the cost of internet access coming down”, Funke told the audience, which included the Lagos governor, Babatunde Fashola, and the acting executive vice chairman of the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), Bashir Gwandu.
“We just talked about getting information to your trading partners for example. So, now, the cost for you to do that should come down, the speed and reliability at which you should do that is much improved”. Funke was also hopeful that the cost of doing business in Nigeria will come down with the cable on ground. “For industries looking for technology, looking for partners, looking to source offshore, they have the ability to access any global market off the internet and source for the most competitive. It really opens up tremendous opportunities for the economy”, she further explained.
Commenting on the commission’s contribution towards the actualisation of the project, Bashir Gwandu, the NCC executive stated: “At NCC, when Funke came to us for license, we cut down the price. We normally give out licences for $50 million for international gateway. We brought it down to $25 million. What we are seeing here today is a huge change in terms of reducing the price of internet services. The task before us is to make sure we maximise the use of that cable. We want to see broadband prices going down for Nigerian consumers”.
“This is a dream unfolding for me because when I came back to Nigeria in 2006, some of the things I mentioned are actually happening today. I called on the industry at the time to start thinking of deploying optical fibre, not only to international links but also to national links and local loops. This is just the beginning. We all know what we have been going through with SAT-3; we are now beginning to see a difference. Main One is clearly leading the race. There are two more cables coming on board but the clear leader is Main One. There are also other cables like Glo-1 and WACS coming to the shores of Nigeria. All these are in answer to some of the calls we have made”, he said.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Glo 1 Submarine Cable goes live
…takes broadband internet to homes, schools, hospitals, businesses
Globacom says its new Glo 1 submarine cable will offer customers the most guaranteed solutions to their business needs.
The National Operator on Tuesday took journalists on a facility tour of the Glo 1 landing station in Lagos and noted that the multi-million dollar cable which has been tested and is now ready for commissioning has customised services to address the requirements of a wide segment of clients including telecom operators, oil and gas companies, manufacturers, government, education and medical institutions.
Group Chief Operating of Globacom, Mohamed Jameel, said that with the company's extensive optic fibre backbone in Nigeria and terrestrial network in West Africa, there is a significant advantage to customers since Glo can provide connectivity right up to customer's premises in these countries, including domestic long haul and last mile services. The customer is thus provided end-to-end solutions for his requirements.
"Glo 1 offers extremely attractive contractual and pricing options which can be tailor-made for individual customer requirements. This is backed by best service level agreements (SLA) and professional account management. Indeed, Glo 1 offers the most competitive prices available in West Africa," Jameel stated. Also, the SLA, which offers end- to- end connectivity, ensures better service delivery as there is no dependence on other networks.
"For carriers and major telecom companies across the world, Glo 1 allows the wholesaler dedicated access to bulk bandwidth for long periods of up to 15 years thus giving the customer certain unique advantages, including the right to lease that bandwidth to someone else.
"For GSM, CDMA, Wimax operators and ISPs, Glo 1 offers extremely attractive prices on both short and long term basis, resulting in enhanced profitability for the customer through flexible terms of contract tailor-made for the customer type and requirement," the GCOO added.
Other customised solutions to be offered by Glo 1 include Data Centres, Tele-Medicine, Video Conferencing, Virtual Private Network, International Leased Lines, Managed Lines and Call Centres.
With Glo 1, Data Centers can be connected to each other for disaster recovery efforts in locations across the globe. This will be extremely helpful to governments and corporate organisations. Medical information can also be transferred through interactive audiovisual media. Remote medical procedures or examinations will therefore be possible. "Glo 1 will aid on-line diagnosis and video conferencing during surgery and research, while distance learning will be made easy by enabling a class of students and lecturers in West Africa to participate in a real time class in Europe, America and any other part of the world," Jameel explained.
Glo 1 will also facilitate premium video conferencing between multiple locations across the country. Videoconferencing uses telecommunications of audio and video to bring people at different sites together for a meeting. This can be as simple as a conversation between two people in private offices (point-to-point) or involve several sites (multi-point) with more than one person in large rooms at different sites. Besides the audio and visual transmission of meeting activities, videoconferencing can be used to share documents, computer-displayed information, and whiteboards.
The Globacom GCOO also guaranteed that anyone using Virtual Private Network (VPN) on Glo 1will get faster connectivity. The private nature of a VPN means that the data traveling over the VPN is not generally visible to, or is protected from, the underlying network traffic. Utmost confidentiality is therefore guaranteed.
The Glo 1 International private leased lines offer connectivity from West Africa to locations across the world. "Using our IPLC service, offices in Nigeria and other parts of Africa can connect to their offices abroad on a completely private circuit," he said.
Globacom says its new Glo 1 submarine cable will offer customers the most guaranteed solutions to their business needs.
The National Operator on Tuesday took journalists on a facility tour of the Glo 1 landing station in Lagos and noted that the multi-million dollar cable which has been tested and is now ready for commissioning has customised services to address the requirements of a wide segment of clients including telecom operators, oil and gas companies, manufacturers, government, education and medical institutions.
Group Chief Operating of Globacom, Mohamed Jameel, said that with the company's extensive optic fibre backbone in Nigeria and terrestrial network in West Africa, there is a significant advantage to customers since Glo can provide connectivity right up to customer's premises in these countries, including domestic long haul and last mile services. The customer is thus provided end-to-end solutions for his requirements.
"Glo 1 offers extremely attractive contractual and pricing options which can be tailor-made for individual customer requirements. This is backed by best service level agreements (SLA) and professional account management. Indeed, Glo 1 offers the most competitive prices available in West Africa," Jameel stated. Also, the SLA, which offers end- to- end connectivity, ensures better service delivery as there is no dependence on other networks.
"For carriers and major telecom companies across the world, Glo 1 allows the wholesaler dedicated access to bulk bandwidth for long periods of up to 15 years thus giving the customer certain unique advantages, including the right to lease that bandwidth to someone else.
"For GSM, CDMA, Wimax operators and ISPs, Glo 1 offers extremely attractive prices on both short and long term basis, resulting in enhanced profitability for the customer through flexible terms of contract tailor-made for the customer type and requirement," the GCOO added.
Other customised solutions to be offered by Glo 1 include Data Centres, Tele-Medicine, Video Conferencing, Virtual Private Network, International Leased Lines, Managed Lines and Call Centres.
With Glo 1, Data Centers can be connected to each other for disaster recovery efforts in locations across the globe. This will be extremely helpful to governments and corporate organisations. Medical information can also be transferred through interactive audiovisual media. Remote medical procedures or examinations will therefore be possible. "Glo 1 will aid on-line diagnosis and video conferencing during surgery and research, while distance learning will be made easy by enabling a class of students and lecturers in West Africa to participate in a real time class in Europe, America and any other part of the world," Jameel explained.
Glo 1 will also facilitate premium video conferencing between multiple locations across the country. Videoconferencing uses telecommunications of audio and video to bring people at different sites together for a meeting. This can be as simple as a conversation between two people in private offices (point-to-point) or involve several sites (multi-point) with more than one person in large rooms at different sites. Besides the audio and visual transmission of meeting activities, videoconferencing can be used to share documents, computer-displayed information, and whiteboards.
The Globacom GCOO also guaranteed that anyone using Virtual Private Network (VPN) on Glo 1will get faster connectivity. The private nature of a VPN means that the data traveling over the VPN is not generally visible to, or is protected from, the underlying network traffic. Utmost confidentiality is therefore guaranteed.
The Glo 1 International private leased lines offer connectivity from West Africa to locations across the world. "Using our IPLC service, offices in Nigeria and other parts of Africa can connect to their offices abroad on a completely private circuit," he said.
Gateway, Cisco partner on MPLS network across sub-Saharan Africa
Ben Uzor Jr
Gateway Business, a Vodacom Group company and leading supplier of African telecommunications services, has selected Cisco for its multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network in Nigeria and across sub-Saharan Africa. This deployment means that Cisco technology solutions will drive an IP next generation network (NGN) for Gateway Business, employing intelligent MPLS technologies.
By utilizing Cisco technology, Gateway Business is able to use MPLS at the core of its pan-African network and a blend of fiber, wireless or satellite at the access level. Cisco’s IOS MPLS technology solution would enable Gateway Communications to build a next-generation intelligent network that delivers a wide variety of advanced, value-added services over a single infrastructure.
Over 1,500 multi-national corporations rely on Gateway to deliver business critical information between head quarters and branch offices from simple voice solutions, to private MPLS virtual private networks (VPNs) and internet access. In Nigeria, the company disclosed that it was deploying a national MPLS network, rolling out wireless broadband services across 36 different states in 2010 and 2011.
BusinessDay learnt that Gateway Communications, the group’s Carrier Services and Wholesale division, was also an investor in the West Africa Cable System (WACS), which will bring additional capacity in to Nigeria by June 2011. Through this agreement with Cisco, the company will immediately begin deploy a range of new services for customers in Nigeria, West Africa, and across the African continent.
Paul Jaikaran, Executive Director (Technology) Gateway Business, stated: “Gateway focuses on delivering an integrated end-user experience through high quality products and services to our customers throughout the sub Saharan region. Cisco’s leadership in IP solutions will enable us to maintain this competitive advantage by delivering converged voice, video, and data services on a common infrastructure to both consumers and business. This is another key milestone for Gateway Business as we continue to invest in and deploy world class terrestrial networks across Africa.”
In the same vein, Richard Edet, General Manager, Cisco Nigeria pointed out that innovative service providers like Gateway are rapidly bridging the digital divide and establishing connected communities.
“Gateway uniquely combines impressive global coverage with an unrivalled local presence and the Cisco powered MPLS network will help take its customer offering to the next level”, he concluded.
Gateway Business is one of the largest independent providers of secure, high speed, reliable bandwidth services in Africa. The company has customers in 42 sub Saharan countries and works in partnership with Africa’s largest businesses and many of the world’s principal corporations, helping them stay connected across Africa and into the rest of the world.
Gateway Business, a Vodacom Group company and leading supplier of African telecommunications services, has selected Cisco for its multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network in Nigeria and across sub-Saharan Africa. This deployment means that Cisco technology solutions will drive an IP next generation network (NGN) for Gateway Business, employing intelligent MPLS technologies.
By utilizing Cisco technology, Gateway Business is able to use MPLS at the core of its pan-African network and a blend of fiber, wireless or satellite at the access level. Cisco’s IOS MPLS technology solution would enable Gateway Communications to build a next-generation intelligent network that delivers a wide variety of advanced, value-added services over a single infrastructure.
Over 1,500 multi-national corporations rely on Gateway to deliver business critical information between head quarters and branch offices from simple voice solutions, to private MPLS virtual private networks (VPNs) and internet access. In Nigeria, the company disclosed that it was deploying a national MPLS network, rolling out wireless broadband services across 36 different states in 2010 and 2011.
BusinessDay learnt that Gateway Communications, the group’s Carrier Services and Wholesale division, was also an investor in the West Africa Cable System (WACS), which will bring additional capacity in to Nigeria by June 2011. Through this agreement with Cisco, the company will immediately begin deploy a range of new services for customers in Nigeria, West Africa, and across the African continent.
Paul Jaikaran, Executive Director (Technology) Gateway Business, stated: “Gateway focuses on delivering an integrated end-user experience through high quality products and services to our customers throughout the sub Saharan region. Cisco’s leadership in IP solutions will enable us to maintain this competitive advantage by delivering converged voice, video, and data services on a common infrastructure to both consumers and business. This is another key milestone for Gateway Business as we continue to invest in and deploy world class terrestrial networks across Africa.”
In the same vein, Richard Edet, General Manager, Cisco Nigeria pointed out that innovative service providers like Gateway are rapidly bridging the digital divide and establishing connected communities.
“Gateway uniquely combines impressive global coverage with an unrivalled local presence and the Cisco powered MPLS network will help take its customer offering to the next level”, he concluded.
Gateway Business is one of the largest independent providers of secure, high speed, reliable bandwidth services in Africa. The company has customers in 42 sub Saharan countries and works in partnership with Africa’s largest businesses and many of the world’s principal corporations, helping them stay connected across Africa and into the rest of the world.
Gateway, Cisco partner on MPLS network across sub-Saharan Africa
Ben Uzor Jr
Gateway Business, a Vodacom Group company and leading supplier of African telecommunications services, has selected Cisco for its multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network in Nigeria and across sub-Saharan Africa. This deployment means that Cisco technology solutions will drive an IP next generation network (NGN) for Gateway Business, employing intelligent MPLS technologies.
By utilizing Cisco technology, Gateway Business is able to use MPLS at the core of its pan-African network and a blend of fiber, wireless or satellite at the access level. Cisco’s IOS MPLS technology solution would enable Gateway Communications to build a next-generation intelligent network that delivers a wide variety of advanced, value-added services over a single infrastructure.
Over 1,500 multi-national corporations rely on Gateway to deliver business critical information between head quarters and branch offices from simple voice solutions, to private MPLS virtual private networks (VPNs) and internet access. In Nigeria, the company disclosed that it was deploying a national MPLS network, rolling out wireless broadband services across 36 different states in 2010 and 2011.
BusinessDay learnt that Gateway Communications, the group’s Carrier Services and Wholesale division, was also an investor in the West Africa Cable System (WACS), which will bring additional capacity in to Nigeria by June 2011. Through this agreement with Cisco, the company will immediately begin deploy a range of new services for customers in Nigeria, West Africa, and across the African continent.
Paul Jaikaran, executive director (Technology) Gateway Business, stated: “Gateway focuses on delivering an integrated end-user experience through high quality products and services to our customers throughout the sub Saharan region. Cisco’s leadership in IP solutions will enable us to maintain this competitive advantage by delivering converged voice, video, and data services on a common infrastructure to both consumers and business. This is another key milestone for Gateway Business as we continue to invest in and deploy world class terrestrial networks across Africa.”
In the same vein, Richard Edet, General Manager, Cisco Nigeria pointed out that innovative service providers like Gateway are rapidly bridging the digital divide and establishing connected communities. “Gateway uniquely combines impressive global coverage with an unrivalled local presence and the Cisco powered MPLS network will help take its customer offering to the next level”, he concluded.
Gateway Business is one of the largest independent providers of secure, high speed, reliable bandwidth services in Africa. The company has customers in 42 sub Saharan countries and works in partnership with Africa’s largest businesses and many of the world’s principal corporations, helping them stay connected across Africa and into the rest of the world.
Gateway Business, a Vodacom Group company and leading supplier of African telecommunications services, has selected Cisco for its multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network in Nigeria and across sub-Saharan Africa. This deployment means that Cisco technology solutions will drive an IP next generation network (NGN) for Gateway Business, employing intelligent MPLS technologies.
By utilizing Cisco technology, Gateway Business is able to use MPLS at the core of its pan-African network and a blend of fiber, wireless or satellite at the access level. Cisco’s IOS MPLS technology solution would enable Gateway Communications to build a next-generation intelligent network that delivers a wide variety of advanced, value-added services over a single infrastructure.
Over 1,500 multi-national corporations rely on Gateway to deliver business critical information between head quarters and branch offices from simple voice solutions, to private MPLS virtual private networks (VPNs) and internet access. In Nigeria, the company disclosed that it was deploying a national MPLS network, rolling out wireless broadband services across 36 different states in 2010 and 2011.
BusinessDay learnt that Gateway Communications, the group’s Carrier Services and Wholesale division, was also an investor in the West Africa Cable System (WACS), which will bring additional capacity in to Nigeria by June 2011. Through this agreement with Cisco, the company will immediately begin deploy a range of new services for customers in Nigeria, West Africa, and across the African continent.
Paul Jaikaran, executive director (Technology) Gateway Business, stated: “Gateway focuses on delivering an integrated end-user experience through high quality products and services to our customers throughout the sub Saharan region. Cisco’s leadership in IP solutions will enable us to maintain this competitive advantage by delivering converged voice, video, and data services on a common infrastructure to both consumers and business. This is another key milestone for Gateway Business as we continue to invest in and deploy world class terrestrial networks across Africa.”
In the same vein, Richard Edet, General Manager, Cisco Nigeria pointed out that innovative service providers like Gateway are rapidly bridging the digital divide and establishing connected communities. “Gateway uniquely combines impressive global coverage with an unrivalled local presence and the Cisco powered MPLS network will help take its customer offering to the next level”, he concluded.
Gateway Business is one of the largest independent providers of secure, high speed, reliable bandwidth services in Africa. The company has customers in 42 sub Saharan countries and works in partnership with Africa’s largest businesses and many of the world’s principal corporations, helping them stay connected across Africa and into the rest of the world.
CWG plans industrial park at UNILAG
One of Africa’s most enterprising Information Communication Technology (ICT) companies, Computer Warehouse Group, has disclosed plans to construct a building dedicated for the appreciation and development of IT at the University of Lagos, Akoka. Austin Okere, group chief executive officer made this known during a courtesy visit to the university’s Vice Chancellor, A.B. Sofoluwe.
Sofoluwe who was full of joy at the meeting was proud that an ex student of the university could build a great company today like Computer Warehouse. He thanked the CEO for consenting to expand internet hotspots around the institution and also institute the Austin Okere Annual Lecture which he said would encourage the younger generation of students in their pursuit of Academic Excellence.
He however asked that CWG leads the path in the construction of an Industrial park in the Institution. According to Prof Sofoluwe, “it is my dream to build an industrial park within the university. One that can be compared to what we have in advanced countries.” In responding, Okere affirmed, stating that “CWG will construct a building here in the University of Lagos to be dedicated for the development of opportunities in the vast areas of ICT for the younger generation”.
He took the opportunity to inform the VC on some of the strengths of CWG in areas of skills development and human capital development with the company’s present initiation of an academy which young individuals are trained in various areas of information technology and after their course, some of them have been absorbed into the company as members of staff.
Okere said: “CWG is going global. It would interest you to know that a case study was done on CWG by the Columbia Business School in the US and I was invited to deliver a lecture at the institution. I cannot tell our story without mentioning the key role played by our alma mater, UNILAG”. In the same vein, Modupe Ogunlesi, deputy vice chancellor (Academic and Research) commended the team for its success story so far in the corporate world and its commitment to the building which would be regarded as a laboratory for capacity building. She prayed for God’s continuous guidance and protection over CWG.
Philip Obioha, CWG’s chief operating officer, commended the university in her efforts at leading the pace in engaging corporate organizations to come into academic institutions to help in developing young individuals. “I think UNILAG’s vision in getting the industry to go back and contribute to capacity development should actually be the norm as its being practiced in developed countries.”
He explained that, the building when completed will be equipped with modern facilities that would help in software development and hardware appreciation. This move by CWG, an indigenous ICT company would encourage other corporate organizations to give back to society in ways which aid the professional development of young individuals.
Sofoluwe who was full of joy at the meeting was proud that an ex student of the university could build a great company today like Computer Warehouse. He thanked the CEO for consenting to expand internet hotspots around the institution and also institute the Austin Okere Annual Lecture which he said would encourage the younger generation of students in their pursuit of Academic Excellence.
He however asked that CWG leads the path in the construction of an Industrial park in the Institution. According to Prof Sofoluwe, “it is my dream to build an industrial park within the university. One that can be compared to what we have in advanced countries.” In responding, Okere affirmed, stating that “CWG will construct a building here in the University of Lagos to be dedicated for the development of opportunities in the vast areas of ICT for the younger generation”.
He took the opportunity to inform the VC on some of the strengths of CWG in areas of skills development and human capital development with the company’s present initiation of an academy which young individuals are trained in various areas of information technology and after their course, some of them have been absorbed into the company as members of staff.
Okere said: “CWG is going global. It would interest you to know that a case study was done on CWG by the Columbia Business School in the US and I was invited to deliver a lecture at the institution. I cannot tell our story without mentioning the key role played by our alma mater, UNILAG”. In the same vein, Modupe Ogunlesi, deputy vice chancellor (Academic and Research) commended the team for its success story so far in the corporate world and its commitment to the building which would be regarded as a laboratory for capacity building. She prayed for God’s continuous guidance and protection over CWG.
Philip Obioha, CWG’s chief operating officer, commended the university in her efforts at leading the pace in engaging corporate organizations to come into academic institutions to help in developing young individuals. “I think UNILAG’s vision in getting the industry to go back and contribute to capacity development should actually be the norm as its being practiced in developed countries.”
He explained that, the building when completed will be equipped with modern facilities that would help in software development and hardware appreciation. This move by CWG, an indigenous ICT company would encourage other corporate organizations to give back to society in ways which aid the professional development of young individuals.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Environmental agency gives telcos August deadline on masts and towers
. . . NCC, NESREA on collision course.
Ben Uzor Jr
From all indication, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) are on a collision course as the environmental agency has given all telecommunications operators in the country up till August 23 to comply with the relevant environmental regulations requiring them to carry out a site specific environmental impact assessment on the location of their base stations.
Ngeri Benebo, director-general of NESREA who made this known while addressing representatives of telecoms companies during a review of draft regulations at the agency’s office in Abuja at the weekend, observed that government had extended the deadline from January to August in order to give sufficient room to telecoms operators so that they could put plans in motion to ensure the safety and health of the environment and members of the public.
Moreover, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and NESREA traded words over the issue last week as the telecom regulator came to the defense of telcos, claiming that operating companies have not breached any environmental standards. Bashir Gwandu, acting, executive vice chairman, NCC further explained: “We cannot have telecom in the country without having telecom masts around us because we do not have infrastructure in place like other countries that have fibre.
“Without masts and towers , there will not be good quality of service and if we do not allow masst and towers in these places, we will continue to have drop call in the country.” We must leave out regulation that are specifically for telecom to telecoms regulators, those that are for environment should be enforced to all on board and across board and not singling out telecommunications.
“Where it is only environment issues that affects the ecosystem I have no problem there, but when you see a regulation setting out specification for masts that is where I have a concern because we already have a specification in place that should be enforced. NESREAs’ action will be seen as targeting the investment world and that will send a wrong signal to those that may want to invest in this country.
“Let us not send that message, let us send message that we would welcome investors to come and invest in this country, we would keep rules on environment only environment specific not telecom specific” Gwandu warned. The NESREA boss dismissed the argument put forward by the NCC on the possible effect the regulatory enforcement may have on the investment in the telecoms sector, stating that no amount of investment could replace the health of the people.
“You have been given another deadline of August 23 rd and we will not go back on that. If it means sealing off as many of the companies masts as possible we will do that. You are aware that wells are been polluted, masts are falling and you say you are sorry about that. If by the time the mast falls and it kills some one, will one billion naira be able to bring that person back to life?”, she enquired.
Ben Uzor Jr
From all indication, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) are on a collision course as the environmental agency has given all telecommunications operators in the country up till August 23 to comply with the relevant environmental regulations requiring them to carry out a site specific environmental impact assessment on the location of their base stations.
Ngeri Benebo, director-general of NESREA who made this known while addressing representatives of telecoms companies during a review of draft regulations at the agency’s office in Abuja at the weekend, observed that government had extended the deadline from January to August in order to give sufficient room to telecoms operators so that they could put plans in motion to ensure the safety and health of the environment and members of the public.
Moreover, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and NESREA traded words over the issue last week as the telecom regulator came to the defense of telcos, claiming that operating companies have not breached any environmental standards. Bashir Gwandu, acting, executive vice chairman, NCC further explained: “We cannot have telecom in the country without having telecom masts around us because we do not have infrastructure in place like other countries that have fibre.
“Without masts and towers , there will not be good quality of service and if we do not allow masst and towers in these places, we will continue to have drop call in the country.” We must leave out regulation that are specifically for telecom to telecoms regulators, those that are for environment should be enforced to all on board and across board and not singling out telecommunications.
“Where it is only environment issues that affects the ecosystem I have no problem there, but when you see a regulation setting out specification for masts that is where I have a concern because we already have a specification in place that should be enforced. NESREAs’ action will be seen as targeting the investment world and that will send a wrong signal to those that may want to invest in this country.
“Let us not send that message, let us send message that we would welcome investors to come and invest in this country, we would keep rules on environment only environment specific not telecom specific” Gwandu warned. The NESREA boss dismissed the argument put forward by the NCC on the possible effect the regulatory enforcement may have on the investment in the telecoms sector, stating that no amount of investment could replace the health of the people.
“You have been given another deadline of August 23 rd and we will not go back on that. If it means sealing off as many of the companies masts as possible we will do that. You are aware that wells are been polluted, masts are falling and you say you are sorry about that. If by the time the mast falls and it kills some one, will one billion naira be able to bring that person back to life?”, she enquired.
Affordable internet pricing elusive as telcos, ISPs shun N35m IXPN
Ben Uzor Jr
Nigeria’s prospects of reasonably priced internet services, increased broadband penetration and the possibility of developing local content on the cyberspace may be unattainable due to the refusal of some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and telecommunications companies (telcos) to connect their internet traffic to the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), BusinessDay can now reveal.
This is inspite of the coming in of Main One and Glo-1 cable which are expected to crash the cost of internet access and bring about the desired digital revolution that Nigeria has been craving for. An IXP is a physical infrastructure through which ISPs and telcos exchange domestic internet traffic locally without having to send information across multiple international hoops to reach their destination.
Lamentably, three years after the Obasanjo administration established the N35 million exchange; a sizeable number of ISPs and telcos are yet to interconnect their internet point to the infrastructure designed to facilitate the keeping of local traffic within the country’s telecom network as well as foster digital inclusion. Muhammed Rudman, managing director of the IXPN had earlier told Business Day that the exchange could reduce capital flight in the economy as transit charges paid to upstream (foreign) ISPs could be redirected towards provision of better local infrastructure and services to customers.
“If more operators connect their traffic to the IXPN, internet users will pay less for access and this will enable more individuals sign up. The internet infrastructure will also enhance local connectivity and improve the internet experience of end users. Also, businesses will use the internet to offer more services to their customers”, he explained. However, investigations have revealed that internet exchanges can lower the operating cost of telecoms operators by ensuring that domestic traffic uses only relatively cheap local connections rather than expensive international links.
Besides, some telcos have blamed the delay on security issues on the part of the exchange which if not addressed before connecting could lead to compromise of subscriber information and revenue loss. A senior executive of one of the telecoms companies who spoke to Business Day on the basis of anonymity said: “I think the reason for the delay in connecting our internet traffic to the exchange point is that there are house keeping issues with the IXPN. Most importantly, there are security issues as well. Telcos spend lots of money on anti-spam software and believe me they are expensive to acquire.
“If we connect to the IXPN and these security issues are not addressed then the big international carriers would stop accepting e-mail traffic from us and that would ultimately mean that we would lose millions of naira in revenue. I strongly believe that connecting to the exchange is something that would come on stream in no distant time. This is because there is a strong cost advantage with keeping local internet traffic within the country”, he posited. It was further learnt that Global Systems for Mobile Communication (GSM) operator, MTN Nigeria has connected its internet traffic to the IXPN.
Some ISPs who have expressed willingness to connect have disclosed that they are constrained by the enormous cost required. Currently, about 30 percent of the over 70 functional ISPs in Nigeria are connected to the exchange. Also, there are over 300 licensed ISPs and 12 voice telecoms operators.
Moreover, Lanre Ajayi, president, Nigerian Internet Group (NIG) does not think that security issues and financial limitations are some of the problems hindering operators from connecting their traffic to the IXPN. Ajayi who spoke to Business Day, revealed: “I think the biggest challenge ISPs and telcos face with respect to connecting to the IXPN is the way internet service delivery emerged in the country. We started with VSAT (satellite) services and majority of the internet hubs are located outside the country.
“They are located in places like the United States (US), Israel and parts of Europe. These hubs are not connected to the IXP in anyway. This means internet traffic goes directly to these hubs abroad. Until we move all our traffic from satellite to terrestrial, it would be difficult to aggregate all the traffic to the IXPN. With Main One, Glo-1, WACS and ACE cables coming into the country and the existing national optic fibre backbone, I hope we would be able to achieve this in no distant time”, he explained.
Industry watchers have also warned that there was serious security implications involved in allowing the exchange points remain outside the country’s shore. This, they explained was because information travelling through multiple international points could be intercepted by cybercriminals or unfriendly nations. But more importantly, connection to the IXPN was expected to improve the security profile of Nigerian internet traffic by ensuring that only international traffic leaves the country.
In the preceding year, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had directed all ISPs and telcos to connect to the exchange before July 31, 2009 or face stiff sanctions. More than 10 months after the expiration of the directive, they are yet to route their traffic through the IXPN. BusinessDay learnt that the monthly cost of hosting a gateway or interconnect point is about $5, 000 depending on the country and each content sent out to the interconnect point is paid for.
On the other hand, the initial cost of connecting to the IXPN stands at about N500, 000, it was gathered. Analysts say that an IXP could amount to 20 percent or more since local traffic often constitutes significant portion of operator’s overall traffic. According to them, connecting to the exchange could result in an immediate drop in latency from 900 milliseconds to 60 milliseconds for local content.
Nigeria’s prospects of reasonably priced internet services, increased broadband penetration and the possibility of developing local content on the cyberspace may be unattainable due to the refusal of some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and telecommunications companies (telcos) to connect their internet traffic to the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), BusinessDay can now reveal.
This is inspite of the coming in of Main One and Glo-1 cable which are expected to crash the cost of internet access and bring about the desired digital revolution that Nigeria has been craving for. An IXP is a physical infrastructure through which ISPs and telcos exchange domestic internet traffic locally without having to send information across multiple international hoops to reach their destination.
Lamentably, three years after the Obasanjo administration established the N35 million exchange; a sizeable number of ISPs and telcos are yet to interconnect their internet point to the infrastructure designed to facilitate the keeping of local traffic within the country’s telecom network as well as foster digital inclusion. Muhammed Rudman, managing director of the IXPN had earlier told Business Day that the exchange could reduce capital flight in the economy as transit charges paid to upstream (foreign) ISPs could be redirected towards provision of better local infrastructure and services to customers.
“If more operators connect their traffic to the IXPN, internet users will pay less for access and this will enable more individuals sign up. The internet infrastructure will also enhance local connectivity and improve the internet experience of end users. Also, businesses will use the internet to offer more services to their customers”, he explained. However, investigations have revealed that internet exchanges can lower the operating cost of telecoms operators by ensuring that domestic traffic uses only relatively cheap local connections rather than expensive international links.
Besides, some telcos have blamed the delay on security issues on the part of the exchange which if not addressed before connecting could lead to compromise of subscriber information and revenue loss. A senior executive of one of the telecoms companies who spoke to Business Day on the basis of anonymity said: “I think the reason for the delay in connecting our internet traffic to the exchange point is that there are house keeping issues with the IXPN. Most importantly, there are security issues as well. Telcos spend lots of money on anti-spam software and believe me they are expensive to acquire.
“If we connect to the IXPN and these security issues are not addressed then the big international carriers would stop accepting e-mail traffic from us and that would ultimately mean that we would lose millions of naira in revenue. I strongly believe that connecting to the exchange is something that would come on stream in no distant time. This is because there is a strong cost advantage with keeping local internet traffic within the country”, he posited. It was further learnt that Global Systems for Mobile Communication (GSM) operator, MTN Nigeria has connected its internet traffic to the IXPN.
Some ISPs who have expressed willingness to connect have disclosed that they are constrained by the enormous cost required. Currently, about 30 percent of the over 70 functional ISPs in Nigeria are connected to the exchange. Also, there are over 300 licensed ISPs and 12 voice telecoms operators.
Moreover, Lanre Ajayi, president, Nigerian Internet Group (NIG) does not think that security issues and financial limitations are some of the problems hindering operators from connecting their traffic to the IXPN. Ajayi who spoke to Business Day, revealed: “I think the biggest challenge ISPs and telcos face with respect to connecting to the IXPN is the way internet service delivery emerged in the country. We started with VSAT (satellite) services and majority of the internet hubs are located outside the country.
“They are located in places like the United States (US), Israel and parts of Europe. These hubs are not connected to the IXP in anyway. This means internet traffic goes directly to these hubs abroad. Until we move all our traffic from satellite to terrestrial, it would be difficult to aggregate all the traffic to the IXPN. With Main One, Glo-1, WACS and ACE cables coming into the country and the existing national optic fibre backbone, I hope we would be able to achieve this in no distant time”, he explained.
Industry watchers have also warned that there was serious security implications involved in allowing the exchange points remain outside the country’s shore. This, they explained was because information travelling through multiple international points could be intercepted by cybercriminals or unfriendly nations. But more importantly, connection to the IXPN was expected to improve the security profile of Nigerian internet traffic by ensuring that only international traffic leaves the country.
In the preceding year, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had directed all ISPs and telcos to connect to the exchange before July 31, 2009 or face stiff sanctions. More than 10 months after the expiration of the directive, they are yet to route their traffic through the IXPN. BusinessDay learnt that the monthly cost of hosting a gateway or interconnect point is about $5, 000 depending on the country and each content sent out to the interconnect point is paid for.
On the other hand, the initial cost of connecting to the IXPN stands at about N500, 000, it was gathered. Analysts say that an IXP could amount to 20 percent or more since local traffic often constitutes significant portion of operator’s overall traffic. According to them, connecting to the exchange could result in an immediate drop in latency from 900 milliseconds to 60 milliseconds for local content.
Friday, July 16, 2010
LCC adopts electronic payment technology for tolling
Ben Uzor Jr
As the Lekki Concession Company (LCC) prepares to commence tolling on the rehabilitated 49.4 kilometre Lekki-Epe express way, the company has disclosed that it would adopt electronic payment systems as a method of toll payment to provide the much needed convenience to road users. Moreover, manual payment which involves the use of cash would also be accepted at the toll plaza.
The company also revealed that the roads would eventually have three toll plaza which would include the ‘Admiralty Circle Plaza’ (Km 3; in the vicinity of the Palms Shopping Mall), ‘Conservation Plaza’ (Km 13; in the vicinity of Chevron Nigeria Limited) and ‘Campus Plaza’ (Km 23; in the vicinity of the Pan African University). The toll plazas have been installed with advanced tolling technology for users ease.
Opuiyo Oforiokuma, chief executive officer, LCC who made these observations at a media parley in Lagos recently further pointed out by the beginning of August the firm would begin tolling of the roads. He observed that the company’s primary focus was to guarantee that users of the new Lekki-Epe Expressway enjoy first-class experience each time they choose to use the road.
He stated that advanced technology was deployed at each plaza to ensure tolling efficiency through automatic vehicle classification and electronic toll collection. But more importantly, these Toll plazas were designed to accommodate three methods of toll payment; namely: eTag electronic payment device, the SwiftPass electronic contactless card, and cash.
eTag is an electronic device that is capable of receiving signals from electronic sensors installed at the Toll Plazas. Vehicles on the eTag account receive the highest price incentives. It also provides the fastest and most convenient access through the Toll Plazas as you do not have to stop as you drive through.
On other hand, SwiftPass is a contactless card that enables electronic payment at the Toll Plazas. It is a more convenient and cheaper option of payment than cash, the company explained. “We now about to enter into the next major phase of this project which is the revenue collection stage and importantly for that, you can see that it’s not just about us standing at plaza and collecting money.
“There is a lot science, there is a lot of planning and methodology behind this for us to now be offering electronic payment platforms with critical feature like the eTag, SwitchPass. These are all things we have spoken to you about in the past. At least, you now begin to get a visual of what your experience would be like. We have always emphasised three key platforms that are important to LCC which is about improving the road users convenience, their journey times and their safety”, Oforiokuma added.
He went on, “The SwiftPass and eTag are pre-loaded with funds. After every successful passage through one of the toll plazas, the balance of funds credited to the particular device used is debited with the corresponding toll charged at the time of passage. It is therefore important to ensure that your electronic toll payment device is loaded with sufficient funds for the passage you wish to make otherwise you will not be able to use the device at the time, and may instead have to pay with cash.
“Where customers register for an LCC Customer Account, thereby subscribing for an enhanced level of service, LCC will notify account holders via SMS or e-mail when the balance on their account is low, to enable them top-up their accounts with funds in good time before their next trip”, the CEO concluded.
The Lekki Toll Road Concession was designed to deliver essential road infrastructure and services along the Lekki-Epe Peninsular of Lagos.
It is Nigeria’s first ever Toll Road Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme. In addition to visible features such as new electronic toll collection technology at the Toll Plazas, the high quality road pavement, new drainage system, pedestrian overhead walkway bridges and traffic and street lights, the Lekki Toll Road incorporates other features that are not visible to the eye, the company observed.
As the Lekki Concession Company (LCC) prepares to commence tolling on the rehabilitated 49.4 kilometre Lekki-Epe express way, the company has disclosed that it would adopt electronic payment systems as a method of toll payment to provide the much needed convenience to road users. Moreover, manual payment which involves the use of cash would also be accepted at the toll plaza.
The company also revealed that the roads would eventually have three toll plaza which would include the ‘Admiralty Circle Plaza’ (Km 3; in the vicinity of the Palms Shopping Mall), ‘Conservation Plaza’ (Km 13; in the vicinity of Chevron Nigeria Limited) and ‘Campus Plaza’ (Km 23; in the vicinity of the Pan African University). The toll plazas have been installed with advanced tolling technology for users ease.
Opuiyo Oforiokuma, chief executive officer, LCC who made these observations at a media parley in Lagos recently further pointed out by the beginning of August the firm would begin tolling of the roads. He observed that the company’s primary focus was to guarantee that users of the new Lekki-Epe Expressway enjoy first-class experience each time they choose to use the road.
He stated that advanced technology was deployed at each plaza to ensure tolling efficiency through automatic vehicle classification and electronic toll collection. But more importantly, these Toll plazas were designed to accommodate three methods of toll payment; namely: eTag electronic payment device, the SwiftPass electronic contactless card, and cash.
eTag is an electronic device that is capable of receiving signals from electronic sensors installed at the Toll Plazas. Vehicles on the eTag account receive the highest price incentives. It also provides the fastest and most convenient access through the Toll Plazas as you do not have to stop as you drive through.
On other hand, SwiftPass is a contactless card that enables electronic payment at the Toll Plazas. It is a more convenient and cheaper option of payment than cash, the company explained. “We now about to enter into the next major phase of this project which is the revenue collection stage and importantly for that, you can see that it’s not just about us standing at plaza and collecting money.
“There is a lot science, there is a lot of planning and methodology behind this for us to now be offering electronic payment platforms with critical feature like the eTag, SwitchPass. These are all things we have spoken to you about in the past. At least, you now begin to get a visual of what your experience would be like. We have always emphasised three key platforms that are important to LCC which is about improving the road users convenience, their journey times and their safety”, Oforiokuma added.
He went on, “The SwiftPass and eTag are pre-loaded with funds. After every successful passage through one of the toll plazas, the balance of funds credited to the particular device used is debited with the corresponding toll charged at the time of passage. It is therefore important to ensure that your electronic toll payment device is loaded with sufficient funds for the passage you wish to make otherwise you will not be able to use the device at the time, and may instead have to pay with cash.
“Where customers register for an LCC Customer Account, thereby subscribing for an enhanced level of service, LCC will notify account holders via SMS or e-mail when the balance on their account is low, to enable them top-up their accounts with funds in good time before their next trip”, the CEO concluded.
The Lekki Toll Road Concession was designed to deliver essential road infrastructure and services along the Lekki-Epe Peninsular of Lagos.
It is Nigeria’s first ever Toll Road Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme. In addition to visible features such as new electronic toll collection technology at the Toll Plazas, the high quality road pavement, new drainage system, pedestrian overhead walkway bridges and traffic and street lights, the Lekki Toll Road incorporates other features that are not visible to the eye, the company observed.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Glo introduces BlackBerry U
Second National Carrier (SNC) Globacom has introduced a special BlackBerry U package, which offers the lowest uniform tariff structure for Prepaid BlackBerry users on any network in the country. With the BlackBerry U, all existing and new Glo prepaid Blackberry subscribers can now enjoy a call rate of N25 per minute or 42 kobo per second for all calls including Glo-to-Glo and Glo to other networks as against the present N42 per minute or 70 kobo per second.
Samson Isa, head of value added services (VAS) Globacom disclosed that the new Blackberry U tariff was targeted at all prepaid Blackberry users as it gives them considerable savings. All an existing prepaid Blackberry subscriber needs to do is text ‘U’ to the short code 7070 and start to enjoy the lowest rate. New subscribers however need to first activate prepaid Blackberry before texting U to 7070 to enjoy the service.
To choose any of the available packages for prepaid BlackBerry from Glo such as the daily, weekly or monthly plan, a Glo subscriber with a BlackBerry device or any other BlackBerry-enabled device only needs to send an SMS with the appropriate keyword to 777. For the daily plan, which costs N400, the keyword is “bisday”, for the weekly plan, which goes for N1,500, the keyword is “bisweek” while the keyword for the monthly plan, which costs N4,800, is “bismonth”.
Apart from BlackBerry devices, BlackBerry Connect software on which BlackBerry U runs can also work with devices from manufacturers such as HTC (Only factory pre-installed models of HTC TyTN II, Touch Diamond, Touch Pro and HD), Nokia (E90, E61,E61i, E70, E51, E65) and Sony Ericsson (P1i, W950, Xperia X1). These devices can also be configured to access niche packages which BlackBerry devices provide. These include connection to push email and access to social sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Globacom has urged prepaid Blackberry users who would like to see their names in the Glo Blackberry U list to text their names to the short code, 2020, e.g. text ‘Jimmy’ to 2020. The names will be printed in the newspapers, twice a month. The names will take on the shape of U as depicted in the advert.
“With the best and widest GPRS coverage in Nigeria, subscribers using BlackBerry from Glo can therefore be guaranteed the most reliable services in more locations across the country at the lowest rate. This is the incredible value that comes with being on the Glo network”, Isa said.
Samson Isa, head of value added services (VAS) Globacom disclosed that the new Blackberry U tariff was targeted at all prepaid Blackberry users as it gives them considerable savings. All an existing prepaid Blackberry subscriber needs to do is text ‘U’ to the short code 7070 and start to enjoy the lowest rate. New subscribers however need to first activate prepaid Blackberry before texting U to 7070 to enjoy the service.
To choose any of the available packages for prepaid BlackBerry from Glo such as the daily, weekly or monthly plan, a Glo subscriber with a BlackBerry device or any other BlackBerry-enabled device only needs to send an SMS with the appropriate keyword to 777. For the daily plan, which costs N400, the keyword is “bisday”, for the weekly plan, which goes for N1,500, the keyword is “bisweek” while the keyword for the monthly plan, which costs N4,800, is “bismonth”.
Apart from BlackBerry devices, BlackBerry Connect software on which BlackBerry U runs can also work with devices from manufacturers such as HTC (Only factory pre-installed models of HTC TyTN II, Touch Diamond, Touch Pro and HD), Nokia (E90, E61,E61i, E70, E51, E65) and Sony Ericsson (P1i, W950, Xperia X1). These devices can also be configured to access niche packages which BlackBerry devices provide. These include connection to push email and access to social sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Globacom has urged prepaid Blackberry users who would like to see their names in the Glo Blackberry U list to text their names to the short code, 2020, e.g. text ‘Jimmy’ to 2020. The names will be printed in the newspapers, twice a month. The names will take on the shape of U as depicted in the advert.
“With the best and widest GPRS coverage in Nigeria, subscribers using BlackBerry from Glo can therefore be guaranteed the most reliable services in more locations across the country at the lowest rate. This is the incredible value that comes with being on the Glo network”, Isa said.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Main One cable surpasses SAT-3, satellite operators’ capacity
Ben Uzor Jr
The slow and exasperating access to the information superhighway as a result of bandwidth constraints and poor quality of service would soon become a thing of the past as Main One cable, which went live on July 1 delivers more than 10 times of broadband capacity of Nigerian Telecommunications Limited’s (NITEL), Nigeria’s only submarine cable, and 20 times the entire satellite capacity of sub-Saharan Africa.
Funke Opeke, chief executive officer, Main One Cable who made this known during a facility tour of the company’s Cable Landing Station (CLS) in Lagos, stated: “For a simple cable, we are extremely competitive, we have the latest technology. It would provide on day one 1.92 terabits per second, it has the capacity to do that. And, we believe that we will be able to install 40 gigabit wave length system which is the next upgrade on this same cable system and get significant improvement beyond the 1.92 terabit through the life cycle of the cable. It is state of the art; it’s what you will find in other markets.”
Commenting on how much capacity has been sold so far, the Main One Cable CEO revealed that the firm has sold a small percentage of the capacity. “We are lighting up 30 Gigabits between Lagos-Portugal, and then another 30 Gigabit between Lagos-Ghana and 30 gigabits between Ghana and Portugal. We have the capacity to light up the rest easily if the traffic grows and there is need to give out more capacity. So, we have a lot of work to do in bringing more customers unto the system.”
Opeke further pointed out that the project would invariably lower the cost of international connectivity, boosting bandwidth availability, which would allow faster download speed. “Well, we clearly see the cost of international communications coming down, the cost of internet access coming down. We just talked about getting information to your trading partners for example. So, now, the cost for you to do that should come down, the speed and reliability at which you should do that is much improved. If you take that into consideration, the cost of doing business in Nigeria should come down”, she posited.
She observed that the project would put Nigeria and the region on the information map in terms of access to global information. “For industries looking for technology, looking for partners, looking to source offshore, they have the ability to access any global market off the internet and source for the most competitive source. It really opens up tremendous opportunities for the economy”, she posited.
During the facility tour, Robin Sanders, United States, ambassador to Nigeria, commended the company for its vision. “I just wanted to say that this is a wonderful facility and a tremendous investment on behalf of the five institutional investors and really the vision for Main One. I am really proud that the US firm was very involved in the $250 million submarine cable project that landed here in Nigeria. Overall, what Main One brings not only to the IT community in Nigeria but certainly regionally is the ability to have broadband, the ability to do mobile banking, the ability for student and institution to have reliable IT service at tremendous speeds that they don’t have now. I think it is an impressive facility.”
In the same vein, Richard Edet, general manager, Cisco Nigeria, who was also present at the facility tour, said: “I think it is a grand initiative. We have been waiting for the broadband explosion and revolution in Nigeria. This is one major initiative that would ensure that we bridge that gap. Cisco and Main one are is a strategic partnership to ensure we deliver content to the people because it brings value once it can impact life. Once you bridge that broadband divide, economic growth follows in its way. Wherever there is a 10 percent growth in broadband, it translates to 2 percent growth in GDP for the country.”
The slow and exasperating access to the information superhighway as a result of bandwidth constraints and poor quality of service would soon become a thing of the past as Main One cable, which went live on July 1 delivers more than 10 times of broadband capacity of Nigerian Telecommunications Limited’s (NITEL), Nigeria’s only submarine cable, and 20 times the entire satellite capacity of sub-Saharan Africa.
Funke Opeke, chief executive officer, Main One Cable who made this known during a facility tour of the company’s Cable Landing Station (CLS) in Lagos, stated: “For a simple cable, we are extremely competitive, we have the latest technology. It would provide on day one 1.92 terabits per second, it has the capacity to do that. And, we believe that we will be able to install 40 gigabit wave length system which is the next upgrade on this same cable system and get significant improvement beyond the 1.92 terabit through the life cycle of the cable. It is state of the art; it’s what you will find in other markets.”
Commenting on how much capacity has been sold so far, the Main One Cable CEO revealed that the firm has sold a small percentage of the capacity. “We are lighting up 30 Gigabits between Lagos-Portugal, and then another 30 Gigabit between Lagos-Ghana and 30 gigabits between Ghana and Portugal. We have the capacity to light up the rest easily if the traffic grows and there is need to give out more capacity. So, we have a lot of work to do in bringing more customers unto the system.”
Opeke further pointed out that the project would invariably lower the cost of international connectivity, boosting bandwidth availability, which would allow faster download speed. “Well, we clearly see the cost of international communications coming down, the cost of internet access coming down. We just talked about getting information to your trading partners for example. So, now, the cost for you to do that should come down, the speed and reliability at which you should do that is much improved. If you take that into consideration, the cost of doing business in Nigeria should come down”, she posited.
She observed that the project would put Nigeria and the region on the information map in terms of access to global information. “For industries looking for technology, looking for partners, looking to source offshore, they have the ability to access any global market off the internet and source for the most competitive source. It really opens up tremendous opportunities for the economy”, she posited.
During the facility tour, Robin Sanders, United States, ambassador to Nigeria, commended the company for its vision. “I just wanted to say that this is a wonderful facility and a tremendous investment on behalf of the five institutional investors and really the vision for Main One. I am really proud that the US firm was very involved in the $250 million submarine cable project that landed here in Nigeria. Overall, what Main One brings not only to the IT community in Nigeria but certainly regionally is the ability to have broadband, the ability to do mobile banking, the ability for student and institution to have reliable IT service at tremendous speeds that they don’t have now. I think it is an impressive facility.”
In the same vein, Richard Edet, general manager, Cisco Nigeria, who was also present at the facility tour, said: “I think it is a grand initiative. We have been waiting for the broadband explosion and revolution in Nigeria. This is one major initiative that would ensure that we bridge that gap. Cisco and Main one are is a strategic partnership to ensure we deliver content to the people because it brings value once it can impact life. Once you bridge that broadband divide, economic growth follows in its way. Wherever there is a 10 percent growth in broadband, it translates to 2 percent growth in GDP for the country.”
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Bharti promises $600 million investment in Nigeria’s telecom industry
Bharti Airtel will invest $600 million in Nigeria's mobile phone market, hoping to expand coverage across the rural pasturelands of Africa's most populous nation, the Indian company's international CEO said Tuesday. Manoj Kohil told journalists that the world's fifth largest telecommunications company hoped an aggressive expansion in Nigeria would raise its profile as an emerging market powerhouse.
Bharti recently closed a $10.7 billion deal with Kuwait-based Zain to take over its holdings in Nigeria and 14 other African nations. “If a company hopes to grow, they have to be in Africa,” Kohil told journalists at a news conference in Lagos. "The jewel of Africa is Nigeria.”
However, Bharti will face a fight in its hopes to expand in Nigeria, a country of 150 million people. South Africa-based MTN already holds a 50 percent market share in the country. Kohil also acknowledged Zain customers in Nigeria on average use only 50 minutes of airtime a month -- compared to 450 minutes in its home base of India, where it has 125 million customers.
Nigeria, long troubled by pothole-littered roads and little electricity, has few fixed land lines as the national telephone company remains mired in corruption and a bureaucratic malaise. Normal Nigerians and even private companies rely on mobile phones to communicate, though many carry two or more phones with different carriers to ensure they can make calls.
To draw customers, Kohil said Bharti will build cell towers into rural Nigeria to improve signals. However, each tower must have its own generators and make tempting targets for thieves in a country where most people earn less than $1 a day. Kohil said Bharti faced similar challenges when it expanded into 450,000 villages across rural India. “We have full faith that the villagers themselves will take care of the sites that keeps them globally connected,” he said.
Another boost for Bharti may come from the Nigerian government. Kohil said he held talks with Nigerian officials about mobile phone number portability -- allowing customers to keep the same number when they change carriers. The CEO said he believed Nigeria's government would allow that soon, but said officials gave him no timeline on when they planned to implement it.
Bharti's new Africa holdings also include Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
Bharti recently closed a $10.7 billion deal with Kuwait-based Zain to take over its holdings in Nigeria and 14 other African nations. “If a company hopes to grow, they have to be in Africa,” Kohil told journalists at a news conference in Lagos. "The jewel of Africa is Nigeria.”
However, Bharti will face a fight in its hopes to expand in Nigeria, a country of 150 million people. South Africa-based MTN already holds a 50 percent market share in the country. Kohil also acknowledged Zain customers in Nigeria on average use only 50 minutes of airtime a month -- compared to 450 minutes in its home base of India, where it has 125 million customers.
Nigeria, long troubled by pothole-littered roads and little electricity, has few fixed land lines as the national telephone company remains mired in corruption and a bureaucratic malaise. Normal Nigerians and even private companies rely on mobile phones to communicate, though many carry two or more phones with different carriers to ensure they can make calls.
To draw customers, Kohil said Bharti will build cell towers into rural Nigeria to improve signals. However, each tower must have its own generators and make tempting targets for thieves in a country where most people earn less than $1 a day. Kohil said Bharti faced similar challenges when it expanded into 450,000 villages across rural India. “We have full faith that the villagers themselves will take care of the sites that keeps them globally connected,” he said.
Another boost for Bharti may come from the Nigerian government. Kohil said he held talks with Nigerian officials about mobile phone number portability -- allowing customers to keep the same number when they change carriers. The CEO said he believed Nigeria's government would allow that soon, but said officials gave him no timeline on when they planned to implement it.
Bharti's new Africa holdings also include Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Jonathan’s Facebook account reaches capacity threshold
Ben Uzor Jr
Nigerians intending to hook up with Goodluck Jonathan, President of the federal republic of Nigeria via Facebook may be stunned to know that the number of individuals directly connected to the president has exceeded the requisite capacity as specified by the social networking site, Business Day can now reveal. This in effect means that people who desire to add Jonathan ‘as a friend’ on Facebook cannot carry out that simple task because according to the system, ‘. . . this user already has too many friends’.
Business Day gathered that Nigerians could still interact with the President through his fan page. Within four days of establishing the page, Jonathan has registered 50,000 fans, more than any Nigerian politician on the network. Equally, Jonathan had set up a Facebook account strategically to create an interface for luminous contribution from all Nigerians. It was also created as an avenue to express his commitment towards ushering in an epoch of electoral uprightness.
A recent post on his fan page reads: “If we want a better Nigeria we will have to create it. It will not just happen. I am not asking you to believe in me. I'm requesting you to believe in yourself. Today I swore in the new Chairman of INEC and I pledge to all Nigerians to give them a free hand. Every support needed will be mobilised to make them achieve the objective for a greater Nigeria…GEJ”. This post was however followed by over 1, 500 comments from Nigerians as at press time. Well meaning Nigerians made positive suggestions on how Nigeria’s electoral process could be further strengthened.
“Mr. President Sir, My humble suggestion is to get an organisation such as the Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) to monitor the activities of INEC and ensure transparency in her activities. Elonna Aguh, a Facebook user responded to Mr. President’s post. Moreover, the social media platform’s rising popularity amongst Nigerians as a strong meeting point for social protest may be responsible for the growing number of citizens trying to get connected to the President, it was further learnt.
Industry experts say that Jonathan could effectively use the media platform and the feedback received to make better decision and consequently position the nation to achieve its vision 20:20 target. In his reaction, Oronto Douglas, special assistant to the President on Strategy pointed out that the President was delighted with the new avenue of interaction with Nigerians, especially the youths.
“I must say that Mr. President is pleasantly surprised at the response from the people of Nigeria to his page particularly as he manages and monitors it personally. The feedback we glean from the almost 2,000 comments posted on the page by Nigerians daily has started helping and will continue helping Mr. President feels the pulse of the public as he takes decisions that affect Nigerians everyday.”
Besides, youths, civil and human rights groups are already engaging Facebook for constructive social criticism. But more basically, the social networking site offers a great medium to reach million of Nigerians with amazing targeting possibilities including age, gender, interest and behavioral markings, experts say. With the population of Nigerians on Facebook surpassing the 1.14 million mark as at March 2010, it was learnt that the platform was amongst the top three most visited websites by Nigerians.
On the international scene, Barack Obama, president of the United States of America (USA) has already garnered 9.41 million followers on Facebook. It would be recalled that the social networking platform was instrumental to the victory of Obama at the polls as great support was mobilised using the medium during his campaign. Kingsley Bankole Ugah, a Facebook user told Business Day yesterday that Facebook has indeed created an avenue for Nigerians to interact with their President.
“It is really a good thing that our president is on Facebook. It really shows that he understands the power of Facebook not just as a tool for social change but also as platform for getting feedback. The average Nigerian can now participate in governance by making suggestions and telling the president about some of the socio-economic challenges the masses face. It is unfortunate that more people can no longer add him ‘as a friends’ on Facebook. I hope something can be done about it”, he added.
Kenneth Omeruo, founder of TechTrends Nigeria, a leading ICT empowerment blog who spoke to Business Day in a telephone chat said: “It is not really unusual because Nigerians have been unable to add other prominent Nigerians like Pat Utomi, Fani Kayode, Nasir El-Rufia because of the same issue. For a president, he would likely need a page. And, I think the president already has a fan page. It is much more interactive and can allow more people join and use it as a medium of communicating with him on a personal level. With this, he can hear the truth from the streets and make better decisions.”
Nigerians intending to hook up with Goodluck Jonathan, President of the federal republic of Nigeria via Facebook may be stunned to know that the number of individuals directly connected to the president has exceeded the requisite capacity as specified by the social networking site, Business Day can now reveal. This in effect means that people who desire to add Jonathan ‘as a friend’ on Facebook cannot carry out that simple task because according to the system, ‘. . . this user already has too many friends’.
Business Day gathered that Nigerians could still interact with the President through his fan page. Within four days of establishing the page, Jonathan has registered 50,000 fans, more than any Nigerian politician on the network. Equally, Jonathan had set up a Facebook account strategically to create an interface for luminous contribution from all Nigerians. It was also created as an avenue to express his commitment towards ushering in an epoch of electoral uprightness.
A recent post on his fan page reads: “If we want a better Nigeria we will have to create it. It will not just happen. I am not asking you to believe in me. I'm requesting you to believe in yourself. Today I swore in the new Chairman of INEC and I pledge to all Nigerians to give them a free hand. Every support needed will be mobilised to make them achieve the objective for a greater Nigeria…GEJ”. This post was however followed by over 1, 500 comments from Nigerians as at press time. Well meaning Nigerians made positive suggestions on how Nigeria’s electoral process could be further strengthened.
“Mr. President Sir, My humble suggestion is to get an organisation such as the Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) to monitor the activities of INEC and ensure transparency in her activities. Elonna Aguh, a Facebook user responded to Mr. President’s post. Moreover, the social media platform’s rising popularity amongst Nigerians as a strong meeting point for social protest may be responsible for the growing number of citizens trying to get connected to the President, it was further learnt.
Industry experts say that Jonathan could effectively use the media platform and the feedback received to make better decision and consequently position the nation to achieve its vision 20:20 target. In his reaction, Oronto Douglas, special assistant to the President on Strategy pointed out that the President was delighted with the new avenue of interaction with Nigerians, especially the youths.
“I must say that Mr. President is pleasantly surprised at the response from the people of Nigeria to his page particularly as he manages and monitors it personally. The feedback we glean from the almost 2,000 comments posted on the page by Nigerians daily has started helping and will continue helping Mr. President feels the pulse of the public as he takes decisions that affect Nigerians everyday.”
Besides, youths, civil and human rights groups are already engaging Facebook for constructive social criticism. But more basically, the social networking site offers a great medium to reach million of Nigerians with amazing targeting possibilities including age, gender, interest and behavioral markings, experts say. With the population of Nigerians on Facebook surpassing the 1.14 million mark as at March 2010, it was learnt that the platform was amongst the top three most visited websites by Nigerians.
On the international scene, Barack Obama, president of the United States of America (USA) has already garnered 9.41 million followers on Facebook. It would be recalled that the social networking platform was instrumental to the victory of Obama at the polls as great support was mobilised using the medium during his campaign. Kingsley Bankole Ugah, a Facebook user told Business Day yesterday that Facebook has indeed created an avenue for Nigerians to interact with their President.
“It is really a good thing that our president is on Facebook. It really shows that he understands the power of Facebook not just as a tool for social change but also as platform for getting feedback. The average Nigerian can now participate in governance by making suggestions and telling the president about some of the socio-economic challenges the masses face. It is unfortunate that more people can no longer add him ‘as a friends’ on Facebook. I hope something can be done about it”, he added.
Kenneth Omeruo, founder of TechTrends Nigeria, a leading ICT empowerment blog who spoke to Business Day in a telephone chat said: “It is not really unusual because Nigerians have been unable to add other prominent Nigerians like Pat Utomi, Fani Kayode, Nasir El-Rufia because of the same issue. For a president, he would likely need a page. And, I think the president already has a fan page. It is much more interactive and can allow more people join and use it as a medium of communicating with him on a personal level. With this, he can hear the truth from the streets and make better decisions.”
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