Marginalization of local OEMs, foreign vendor dominance take toll on ICT sector

By Bankole Orimisan

THE increasing apathy for locally made Information and Communications Technology (ICT) wares, including laptops, deskstop computers and software products seem to be bringing huge discomfort to indigenous equipment manufacturers in the country.

    This is coming on the heels of increasing drop in personal computer ownership across the globe.

   Besides, the proliferation and domination of foreign ICT vendors in the country has been described as a dangerous trend for the industry, which must be nipped in the bud.

   According to the Chairman, board of Nigeria Communications Satellite (NigComSat) Limited, Prof. Turner Isoun, the continued dominance of foreign vendors has capacity to undermine will

the war against security challenges.

   Isoun, after a board meeting last week, frowned at this ugly trend saying this proliferation of foreign ICT vendors proposing and supplying security solutions to Nigerian security, Para-military and critical infrastructure bodies portend serious threats.

   According to Isoun the danger is that the nation is exposed “to a myriad of potential security threats from otherwise restricted data being exposed to numerous vendors”.

   Isoun who is the longest serving Science and Technology Minister in Nigeria’s history explained that “this predicament is particularly worrisome not only because of the present state of national insecurity but also because NigComSat Limited is the only government agency mandated to act as a clearing house and solution provider for security related ICT solutions to Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and institutions”.

      Indeed, NigComSat Limited currently manages the National Public Safety Communications Systems (NPSCS), a national safety network. A network upgrade for the safety network is on, Isoun explained.

   This, the board Chairman said, is to protect the nation’s borders and other key infrastructure such as oil and gas pipelines.

    He therefore “cautions all government agencies to direct their ICT needs to NigComSat limited or through the Federal Ministry of Communications Technology within the next four weeks.

    Isoun also advised state governments “who are interested in providing security solutions for their respective states to liaise with NIGOCMSAT limited for effective planning and integration into the NPSCS”.

   In a related development, the Chairman, Zinox Group, Chief Leo-Stan Ekeh, in an interview with journalists at the weekend, said the Nigerian government need to do more to foster growth on indigenous equipment manufacturers in the country, stressing that local players are bleeding due to harsh business environment.

    Before now, the Managing Director of Omatek Ventures had lamented the influx of foreign OEMs dominance of the country’s PC sector and others, stressing that President Goodluck Jonathan must champion the buy made-in-Nigeria campaign.

    According to Ekeh, one area which can deliver patronage for local OEMs include the education sector, stressing that this sector had yet to be explored to create the required demand for PCs, as is the case for most markets in the world.

    He described the educational sector as the largest consumer of technological products, saying the Nigerian government had not done enough in that regard, owing to the degree of weakness and deficiency seen in the sector.

    Ekeh stressed that the 21st Century student started with technology and has passion for technology; hence, the need for encouragement so that the technological developments that could lead to wealth creation are fast-tracked like is the case with countries in Europe and America.

    He said Nigeria with its huge youth population is currently consuming less that 500,000 PCs yearly, while South Africa with a population three-times less than that of Nigeria, is doing over 1.2 million a year in terms of PC consumption.

    The Zinox boss stated, “Any average university that is 20 years old, will have at least 500,000 students. This alone is a big market for technological products. But our governments are ignorant of this.”

    He said a robust ICT market provided the right platform for creativity and innovation, which were better ways the country could build human capacities and drive revenue generation, adding that, “All the mega technological deals we read about everyday started like this. Some of these businesses, which were very small some few years ago, have turned out to be multi-billion dollar firms.

    “The kind of money that is generated when some of these companies are sold cannot be replicated in many other sectors of the economy. For me, the only way God can bless Nigeria now is through technology. I am not against agriculture or oil and gas. The agric and oil sectors are rather too cumbersome and nature-driven.

    “Nigeria’s foreign reserve today is less that $40 billion, which is a crisis because if major companies decide to buy foreign exchange at a time, we will have no money as a country. Today, if Nigeria can commit $1bn to technology with 10,000 Nigerians exposed to technology, in the next two to five years, this will amount to $250 billion. It is only technology that can do this.”

    At a function in Lagos, the President of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), Chris Uwaje, again reiterated the fact that foreign software still garnered more patronage than those made by Nigerians, this he described as a disincentive to ICT growth.

     Uwaje said that government must take up the challenge and fashion out ways to develop and encourage the abundance of talent Nigeria is blessed with.

Telecoms operators need $1.7tr investments to meet data demand

By Bankole Orimisan

BETWEEN $1.5 trillion-$1.7 trillion is the amount of capital the global telecoms industry needs to invest over the next five years in order to meet the demand for data.

  Those were the figures mooted by Etisalat Chief Executive Officer, Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar and Telenor CEO and GSMA Chairman, Jon Fredrik Baksaas at the just concluded Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

  “The network of 2020 will be all-IP, it will need to handle enormous volumes of data, and be safe and secure. To realise this there are huge investments that need to be done,” said Baksaas, adding, “the business models behind this investment need to be there.”

  Besides, Mckinsey, a global advisor and counselor to many of world’s most influential businesses and institutions also projected that extra $30 billion will need to be put into the global telecommunications sector by 2015 for expansion.

  Indeed, in Nigeria, the Chief Executive Officer, Brymedia Consortium and a former CEO of MTN Nigeria, Adrian Wood had in an interview with The Guardian stated that Nigeria would need another $20 billion investment to revolutionise the broadband regime and record much more success that the voice era. 

  According to him, for Nigeria to become highly competitive in technology development, the country needs adequate broadband penetration, saying that in order to attract investments from foreign companies and countries, the country needs fast broadband rollout, and that is what is driving technology trends in developed counties.

  “I think the voice segment has been able to attract appreciable level of investment, about $25 billion. The next broadband phase will require additional $20 billion investment for the needed impact,” Wood noted.

  Already, Nigeria’s investment in the last 12 years, which was focused mainly on the growth of voice services, is put at over $25 billion. President Goodluck Jonathan recently affirmed that the telecommunications sector grows 30 per cent year-on-year basis.

  The minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson had at a recent broadband forum in Lagos hinted that government shopped for new $25 billion investment in Nigeria’s ICT sector, which would be channelled strategically towards realising the five-fold target increase on broadband connectivity across the country.  

  Meanwhile, at MWC, Julfar said that investments couldn’t just be made by operators, hinting that over-the-top service providers and governments needed to contribute in some way.

  “All stakeholders need to work more closely together,” he said.

  U.A.E.-based Etisalat benefits from a government that has stated its ambition to be the world’s leading provider of e-government services.

  Julfar said that the government was aware of the “transformative effect” that mobile technology has on people’s lives.

  Among the many initiatives being driven there is a scheme that will see mobile phones used in place of national identity cards.

  “Other markets lack good, visionary governments,” he acknowledged.

  Meanwhile, during the same keynote, America Movil CEO Daniel Hajj hailed the progress of Latin America.

  “A few decades ago, few people would have predicted the economic development of Latin America,” he said, pointing to the financial crisis of the 1980s.

  “Now you could call it the LatAm moment, or even the LatAm decade,” he said.

  ICT is a “powerful engine for growth” in the region, he said, and this has helped America Movil grow into Latin America’s largest operator.

  12 years ago, the company generated 80 per cent of its revenue in its home market of Mexico; now that figure stands at 32 per cent. Similarly in 2002, voice accounted for 90 per cent of America Movil’s revenue, Hajj said. Now it accounts for just 39 per cent, with data and content services making up the lion’s share.

  “The road ahead is very promising, but we as an industry need more networks, better regulation and more viable ecosystems,” he said.

  Like his opposite numbers at Telenor and Etisalat, Hajj talked up the importance of making a return on investments.

  “America Movil is investing in infrastructure for fixed, mobile and TV services. We need to find sustainable [business] models,” he said.

SWIFT Networks unveils portable wireless hotspot modem • Promises better connectivity for consumers

By Bankole Orimisan

SWIFT Networks, Nigeria’s provider of high speed broadband Internet and data services to enterprise and consumer customers has launched its portable, nomadic and personal wireless hotspot modem tagged ‘The Nomad’ in continuance of its 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology which has tripled its capacity and speed.

  According to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) SWIFT Networks Limited, Mr. Chuma Okoye, the new portable, nomadic and personal wireless hotspot modem is designed to offer existing and potential SWIFT 4G LTE customers the convenience to take their high speed SWIFT 4G LTE broadband connectivity on the go, as they move around the city because the Nomad fits perfectly in a pocket, briefcase, handbag or in the car.

  “We have introduced the SWIFT ‘Nomad’ to enable our teeming esteemed customers in Lagos, in the first instance, to continue access the fast and reliable SWIFT 4G LTE broadband service not only at home or in the office, but also on the go. ‘The Nomad’ will only be available through our 4G LTE network, being the fastest wireless broadband technology available today, to ensure that only the best broadband speed is provided to our discerning customers,” he said.

  Also speaking on the launch of the new modem, the Assistant General Manager, Consumer Sales and Marketing, SWIFT Networks Limited, Mr. Philip Sonibare declared that the new portable, nomadic and personal wireless hotspot modem would be available to both existing and prospective customers on the 4G LTE network. 

  “Our current customers can add it as one of the modems on their current SWIFT 4G LTE account, drawing from the same data allowance on the same bill. New customers will only need to set up a new account and can add it to other SWIFT 4G LTE modems they may have at home or the office on the same monthly data subscription and bill,” he declared.

  Emphasizing the key benefits of the new modem to customers, Sonibare stated that the ‘Nomad’ provided portable fast and reliable broadband speeds while also allowed for multiple users and multiple devices connectivity of up to 10 users or devices either on the go or different locations within SWIFT coverage area.

  He declared that the other benefits of the ‘Nomad’ includes the unique offering of connecting as one of the modems on a single SWIFT 4G LTE account as well as offering the competitive advantage of up to 10 hours of battery life.

  The ‘Nomad’ comes in two variants; one with up to six hours of battery life, while the other provides up to 10 hours battery life. As such, once fully charged, customers can continue to enjoy 4G LTE services from “The Nomad” for up to 10 hours without being tethered to mains power. Each of these variants is also rechargeable on the go, using the cigarette lighter plug adapter in a car.

Nation’s active phone lines hit 127m • Teledensity hits 91.2%, connected lines now 169m • 45,101 subscribers exchange operators through MNP in Q4

By Bankole Orimisan

FROM about 400,000 telephone lines provided by moribund Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) in 2000, the country, as at the end of last year, now has 127 million active phone subscriptions. 

  Indeed, the latest subscriber statistics, the December edition, released yesterday, by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), showed that the country connected 169 million telephone lines covering the GSM, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operator and Fixed wired/wireless lines technologies, out of which 127 million were currently active by end of Decmber.

    Meanwhile, in the Mobile Number Porting scheme, launched on April 22, 2013 by NCC, about 45,101 subscribers exchanged mobile operators in quarter four of 2013.  

    Further breakdown of the statistics showed that the quartet of GSM operators including MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat connected 159 million lines with 124 million active. The CDMA, whose fortunes plummeted in the last five years, sustained a downward trend with a connection of 7.6 million lines, while only 2.4 million lines remained active. 

   The fixed wired/wireless operators connected 2.3 million lines with only 360,537 lines left active.

   Besides, Nigeria saw a growth in its teledensity, from 81.7 per cent in January 2013 to 91.1 per cent by the end of the year under review.

  Telephone density or teledensity is the number of telephone connections for every hundred individuals living within an area. It varies widely across the nations and also between urban and rural areas within a country. 

   Analysts said that telephone density has significant correlation with the per capita GDP of the area, adding that it is also used as an indicator of economic development of the country or specific region.

   Going further, the statistics showed that telecommunications operators’ total installed capacity, which was 226.6 million by January 2013 went up to about 248.4 million by the end of the year. 

   It could also be deduced from the statistics that MTN Nigeria, which recently reported revenues of N794 billion in 2013 and paid N1.23 trillion to government as taxes in the last 13 years, remained the largest mobile operator in the country, with over 56 million subscribers and 45 per cent market share.

   Globacom, owned by oil magnate, Otunba Mike Adenuga, followed with 21 per cent market share and over 25 million subscription; Airtel, with 24.8 million subscription controls 20 per cent of the market. Etisalat, after five years of operations in the country has about 18 million subscribers and 14 per cent market share. 

   The MNP statistics showed that in October, 8,105 subscribers ported out; 7,830 in November and 5,850 in December.

    In terms of porting in, 8, 112; 8, 242 and 6,962 subscribers ported into the networks in October, November and December respectively of the period under review. 

    The statistics further showed that within the period, Airtel, which gained 9,919 subscribers, lost 3,650 subscribers to other networks; Etisalat gained 8,373 and lost 2,756 subscriptions; Globacom, which lost 3,383, gained 2787 subscribers and MTN, with 11,996 subscription loss, gained 2,777 subscribers.

   The CDMA operators, including Visafone; Multilinks; Starcomms and Mtel, which started the year with about 14 million subscriptions lost about 6.35 million connected lines to end the year with 7.6 million.           

   Meanwhile, GSM operators started the year with 138 million connected lines and 111 million active users. 

   The statistics further showed that the GSM (mobile) technology takes 97.83 per cent of the market, while mobile (CDMA) controls 1.88 per cent and the Fixed (Wired/Wireless) has 0.29 per cent market acceptance.

Bitflux pays additional N155m for WWASL licence

By Bankole Orimisan

AFTER successfully paying the $23.25 million (N3.63 billion) for the 2.3GHz spectrum licenses on Tuesday, Bitflux Communications Limited, yesterday, informed that it has equally paid the N155 million additional fees for the Wholsesale Wireless Access Service License (WWASL) as required by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). 

   The addition of the N155 million brings the total amount paid by the firm to N3.785 billion for the two licenses 2.3GHz Spectrum Licence and for WWASL. 

   Although Bitflux was given ultimatum of 14 business days to pay for the 2.3GHz spectrum licence it won penultimate week through an auction process organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), it was however told to pay another N155 million for the WWASL licence, which it must acquire along side the 2.3GHz spectrum licence it won through a bidding process.

    Bitflux was asked to pay the additional N155 million within 30 days from the date of payment of the $23.251 million, but to the surprise of industry stakeholders, the firm did not only meet the deadline for the payment of the 2.3GHz licence, it also went ahead to pay the additional N155 million the same day, bringing it to a total of N3.785 billion that it paid for both licences.

   Marketing Communications Manager at VDT Communications, David Ese confirmed that the company, apart from paying the spectrum fees, it has equally paid the N155 million for the WWASL licence.

   Bitflux is a consortium of VDT Communications Ltd, Bitcom Systems Ltd and Superflux International Ltd.

   “The Bitflux consortium led by the Managing Director of VDT Communications Limited Biodun Omoniyi, and the Managing Director of Superflux International Limited, Tokunbo Talabi, successfully paid the N3.785 billion being the full payment of the spectrum 2.3GHz license and N155million, being the full payment of the Wholesale Wireless Access Service License (WWASL)

   “Even though Bitflux still had about 10 more days to pay for the operational License, the consortium decided to make both payments on time”, he stated.

    According to him, this has confirmed Bitflux’s readiness, financial     capability and commitment to lead the Nigeria broadband communication.

    Several industry stakeholders and watchers have congratulated Bitflux on the successful payment. 

    According to them Bitflux’s successful payment holds a brighter hope for broadband communication in Nigeria. 

   “With this feat, Bitflux is just few steps away from rolling out premium broadband communications which ensures better quality, penetration and excellent customer service that Nigerians have been yearning for,” Omoniyi said.

   Bitflux Communications successfully won the 2.3G spectrum license auction, which it keenly contested with Globacom and won.