Subscribers reap bumper rewards in Etisalat promo

By Bankole Orimisan                                      

NIGERIA’S fastest growing telecommunications company, Etisalat recently presented over 50 Blackberry phones with two months free internet subscriptions on its Blackberry Internet Service  (BIS) plan to subscribers in its ongoing hourly recharge and win blackberry promo, which kicked off last month.

  Speaking during the presentation in Lagos, the Director, Marketing Segments Strategy, Etisalat, Oluwole Rawa, said that the company is using the promo to give away over 2,000 blackberry phones to customers.

  “Etisalat will be giving out a blackberry device every hour for the next three months. This implies that 24 blackberry phones will be given out daily to our customers between January and March, 2012. This is Etisalat’s way to further make life and communication easier and better and also show appreciation to our loyal customers for always supporting us,” he stated.              

  In his bid to affirm the ongoing promo in the market, 13 year-old Ephraim Bidemi, one of the winners who spoke after receiving her phone said it was an opportunity that could not be allowed to slip by. “I started using this Etisalat line recently. I have always wanted to use their line  because it  has lots of benefits and  packages but was still considering how to buy another phone, but few months ago I decided to summon the courage and I removed my previous SIM from my phone, bought  and registered  this Etisalat SIM, after which I have been recharging.  When I was  called before the strike that I won a blackberry Curve  4  from Etisalat, I jumped up because I was glad to be a partaker in this  wonderful reward. The promo is encouraging and with this happening today, it has been an experience worth the courage I summoned to use the line and I will simply encourage everybody to go get Etisalat because it works for me.”     

  Okwudibie Henry, a 22 year-old student said that the promo provided the opportunity he had been waiting for to join the league of “big boys” in his area; and he would encourage  his friends to also subscribe to Etisalat.

  “The promo just came at the right  time,  because I had wanted to buy a blackberry in December 2011 to join the clique of big boys in the new year. The experience has been wonderful and I cannot wait to start getting my friends’ PINs and start chatting on my blackberry. Thank you Etisalat for giving me an opportunity to step up my level among the big boys in town.”                        

  According to another winner, Ajetunmobi Emmanuel, “I am glad to receive the phone today because I find this promo very attractive, as it gives room for people who wish to also join those  that  use blackberry phones. This experience is worth recommending to others. The two months free internet service added to this  promo  is another  way of  ensuring the promo’s superiority over others. Thanks to Etisalat for always giving its customers an avenue to get value for our money.”                                    Explaining the rationale for the promo, Etisalat Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Wael Ammar, said that the promo is available to all Etisalat subscribers. “All you have to do is buy and register your Etisalat SIM. Every time subscribers recharge, they stand a chance  of winning  a blackberry  phone. For those that already have our SIM, all they have to do is keep recharging every hour and they also stand a chance of getting a blackberry Curve 4 from Etisalat.”            

  “This promo reflects a continuous drive by Etisalat in providing them necessary  tools  and  devices  for our  customers  in  order to gain that competitive advantage  in their business and family relationships. It will also help our subscribers in  expanding the value derivable from mobile telephony, as  we  are  always particular about our customers and how they feel, that is why we have decided to embark on this promo to reinstate our promise to them,” he said.

Oracle to provide Nouvobanq with financial solution

By Bankole Orimisan

Nouvobanq has selected Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking Solution and Oracle FLEXCUBE Direct Banking Solution to support the bank’s growing retail and corporate banking operations.

   The Oracle FLEXCUBE solutions will provide a highly scalable infrastructure that enables the bank to meet its aggressive growth plans.

   The product’s flexible structure and design will enable the bank to quickly launch new products and services to market with its European partners to extend new benefits to customers.

   The bank’s previous solution, used for the last 22 years, caused bottlenecks due to technology limitations that could not meet modern banking demands. The implementation of Oracle FLEXCUBE helps create new efficiencies that are visible throughout the bank’s business.

   Managing Director, Nouvobanq, Ahmad Saeed, said; “As we are always looking to expand our offerings and maintain our market leadership position, we needed to invest in a scalable and flexible core banking platform to reflect the current and future market. The implementation of Oracle FLEXCUBE will provide us with extended functionality and interoperability, and help us bring new and innovative products to the market quicker.”

    Vice President, Oracle Financial Services, Suryanarayan Kasichainula, also added that; “We pride ourselves on supporting the specific needs of our customers through a comprehensive and standardised platform on which to operate their business. Oracle FLEXCUBE solutions will help Nouvobanq meet its customer demands both on- and off-line and address changing needs over time.”

LTE won’t accelerate until 2015

By Bankole Orimisan 

THE international GSM Association says in a new report that the global adoption of Long Term Evolution (LTE) services risks being hampered by device interoperability issues unless harmonised spectrum band plans can be achieved.

The new report – Global LTE Network Forecasts and Assumptions - One Year On – predicts that there will be 38 different spectrum frequency combinations used in LTE deployments by 2015, a fragmented scenario fuelled by ongoing spectrum auctions, licence renewals and re-farming initiatives across a wide range of frequency bands.       The lack of spectrum harmonisation represents a key challenge for the emerging LTE ecosystem, potentially preventing vendors from delivering globally compatible LTE products such as devices and chipsets, or requiring them to increase prices.

"Spectrum fragmentation has the potential to hinder global LTE roaming if device manufacturers are required to include support for many disparate frequencies in their devices," said Wireless Intelligence senior analyst and report author Joss Gillet. "Given the backwards compatibility already required for either HSPA or EV-DO connectivity, we are unlikely to see a 'world' device in a handset form-factor soon."

Wireless Intelligence forecasts that there will be more than 200 live LTE networks in over 70 countries by 2015, up from 40 networks in 24 countries today. The report notes that the IMT-extension band (2500/2600MHz) is the most globally harmonised band used in LTE deployments to date, accounting for over half of live networks in 2011.

Meanwhile, the number of LTE connections is forecast to grow from 7 million in 2011 to close to 300 million by 2015. More than two-thirds of global LTE connections today relate to deployments at 700MHz due to the large-scale rollouts underway in the United States.

Asia Pacific has the most varied spectral combinations of all the global regions despite significant support for LTE at 2100MHz (Japan), 2500MHz (China) and 1800MHz (Southeast Asia).

Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East will represent a joint 50 per cent of global LTE connections by 2015, which further underlines the urgent need for spectrum harmonisation.

Spectrum fragmentation is set to increase over the next four years as more LTE networks are deployed in the digital dividend (700/800MHz) and re-farmed frequency bands. Among the 38 frequency combinations predicted by 2015, the 700/800MHz band is expected to be used in around a quarter of LTE network deployments, compared to approximately one-third for the IMT-extension band and one third using re-farmed spectrum.

"Spectrum re-farming will grow in importance as an interim solution as operators await additional spectrum to be allocated by governments and regulators," said Gillet. "Our research indicates that one-third of LTE operators around the globe will be unable to secure any additional spectrum in the 700, 800, 2500 or 2600 MHz bands before 2016 at the earliest – which will further exacerbate data capacity issues and limit LTE coverage expansion plans."

Africa to savour higher international cable capacity this year

By Bankole Orimisan 

WHEN the WACS and ACE submarine cables are commissioned in 2012, in theory the African continent will have access to more international capacity than it knows what to do with.

    In reality, however, this is only true for coastal countries, and even here, the distribution network often goes no further than the capital city. Liberia's capital, Monrovia, which has recently been connected to the submarine cable ACE, is a typical example.

    The arrival of submarine cable links, therefore, leaves infrastructure providers with the task of accelerating the deployment of national backbones and cross-border links between coastal countries and landlocked countries so as to ensure that as many Africans as possible can share in the benefits of international capacity and access to data services.

     With this in mind, Isabelle Gross spoke with Frederic Sallet, vice president of Alcatel Lucent for Central and West Africa, on his company's strategy for national backbones in Africa.

      It is clear that Africa now needs to rapidly overcome the obstacles to an expansion in Internet capability, and especially in broadband Internet capacity, and to find solutions, which will allow the development of more powerful data services.

     Frederic Sallet believes, "that most major obstacles to such expansion have been eliminated. For one thing, links with the rest of the world are no longer a problem, since both the west and east coasts have at least three submarine cables. Interconnection prices have also dropped considerably. Finally, the adoption of mobile telephony, and in particular 3G, means that end users can make full use of all capacity they are offered."

      One of the few remaining weak links in the chain (the other being the paucity of content, which is not for Alcatel-Lucent to sort out) is the connection between the submarine cables (the international capacity) and the 3G users (the consumers of that capacity).

      In short, there is a crying need to strengthen national backbones and develop cross-border links in order to give consumers outside the main cities and in landlocked African countries greater access to international capacity.

      Alcatel-Lucent is involved in multiple projects on the continent in order to meet this challenge. According to Frederic Sallet, "the pace of such projects has accelerated in 2011 compared with 2009, when many such schemes were still being conceived. While it is possible that the pace will continue to speed up between 2012 and 2015, this will depend to a large extent on the demand generated by the growth of 3G."

     Current projects take two main forms, some are initiated by private telecom operators seeking to consolidate their regional presence by interconnecting their operations, while others are a consortium of private and public stakeholders in the telecom sector.

     In each of these models, Alcatel-Lucent plays several roles. The company offers advice on the best routes and this may particularly apply to West Africa, which is highly fragmented in terms of number of countries.

     In addition Alcatel-Lucent is involved in coordinating the project stakeholders and implementation of the backbone. In recent years, Alcatel-Lucent has built backbones in Algeria, Libya and Morocco in North Africa. It is currently actively involved in a project in Mauritania with a mining company, in Guinea with the operator Orange and also in Mozambique.

      Frederic Sallet explains, "that there are two main forces at work that can stimulate national backbone-building strategy in Africa. Firstly, the local operator (such as Orange and MTN) may belong to a pan-African policy group that advocates such construction, secondly, some countries are open to be a public-private partnership (PPP) that involves the government and local private telecoms firms."

     The two main elements that influence how investments in national backbones are structured are the level of economic development and the nature of the legal framework governing the construction of backbones (which can vary from a monopoly held by an incumbent to a more liberal pro-competitive regime such as those in Nigeria or Kenya).

     Backbones under construction and being planned for the various sub-regions of Africa will form a base-level network, which may be followed by the development of a finer network as and when the demand for capacity from within the continent permits.

     In African countries as a whole there is a good understanding of the need to build or strengthen national networks, but some countries are more cautious than others when it comes to PPP projects.

     According to Frederic Sallet, "Nigeria, Senegal and Kenya are currently the leaders in terms of national infrastructure." The position in Central Africa is less advanced. Some national and cross-border sections exist, but many remain to be built.

     Providing that Cameroon is willing to take advantage of the new low prices and abundance of capacity brought about by the international submarine cables, the Central African Backbone (CAB) should improve international and cross-border connectivity between it and its neighbours, the Central African Republic and Chad. An alternative to Cameroon would be to build the exit route via Gabon and Congo.

     Infrastructure is not the only barrier when it comes to bringing the benefits of international connectivity to the average African. Frederic Sallet underlines "that it is important not to neglect the services that must reside on the physical network."

      Much as the Internet itself did not flourish until the advent of the worldwide web, Africa's Internet-driven renaissance will also depend on the development of the "IP layer" that will permit firms to access services such as VPN (virtual private networks), and videoconferencing.

     If the price trends as regards capacity on the national backbones and cross-border links follow those for international capacity (and there are many reasons why this is likely to be the case), those telecom operators that do not expand their portfolio of services, in particular through the introduction of value-added services, will see their sales figures languish. As we have seen in Europe and the U.S, in the face of commoditisation of mobile pricing, simply selling capacity is unlikely to be sufficient to allow telcos to make ends meet.

Mobile network capacity to dwindle globally in 2012, says report

By Bankole Orimisan

THE capacity crunch plaguing mobile operators around the world are expected to worsen in 2012, a study by Arieso has stated.

  This, according to the report, is fuelled by new smartphones, applications and services which are accelerating consumer demand for mobile data beyond expectations. As such, only one per cent of global subscribers consume half of all downloaded data. With increased sophisticated devices making their way into the market, the study found that capacity crunch would continue to be a thing of worry to mobile network operators globally.

  The Chief Technology Officer, Arieso and the author of the study, Dr. Michael Flanagan, said, “The introduction of increasingly sophisticated devices, coupled with growing consumer demand, is creating unrelenting pressure on mobile networks. The capacity crunch is still a very real threat for mobile operators, and it looks set to only get harder in 2012.

  “The mobile industry needs new investment and new approaches to boost network performance and manage the customer experience”.

  The Arieso study compared data usage across a variety of smartphones and connected devices. It found that users of the iPhone 4S demanded three times as much data as iPhone 3G users and twice as much as iPhone 4 users, who were identified as the most demanding in the 2010 study.

  In a finding consistent with 2010 results, it also showed that Google Nexus One users made twice as many data calls as iPhone 3G users. The Arieso analysis compared the data consumption of users of the latest smartphones against the iPhone3G as a “normalised benchmark”. The study found that different users and different devices exhibited very different demands on the network. The most significant change in consumer behaviour between 2010 and 2011 data has been catalysed by the introduction of the iPhone 4S. iPhone 4S users download 2.76 times as much data as users of the iPhone 3G. And while an Android-powered device maintains last year’s position at the top of the table for uplink data volumes, with HTC Desire S users typically uploading 3.23 times as much data as iPhone 3G users, the iPhone 4S falls just behind in this category with a typical 3.20 times as much data uploaded.

There are some very hungry handset users, even compared to the iPhone 3G benchmark (iPhone 3G = 100 per cent) For instance, data calls per subscriber on HTC Google Nexus One is 221 per cent, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10i 157 per cent and HTC Desire 156 per cent.

Fuel subsidy protests and the power of social media

As the storm against the removal of fuel subsidy assailed business activities in the country, BANKOLE ORIMISAN, examines the role of the social media network in the country.

  Steve Chen,Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim to enable Americans share videos among loved ones. Today, it has become the new face of modern cinema where videos of the famous Arab Spring and Occupy Movement are disseminated. Twitter was founded in 2006 by Jack Dorsey. The faintest thought that it could be used to organize mass movements against autocratic governments in the Middle East was out of the equation.

  The most popular website, Facebook, founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, was privately developed so that he could communicate with his folks in the campus. He didn't realise that the Otueke-born zoologist would be named a 'Facebook President' by CNN during his presidential campaigns in 2010/2011.Research In Motion (manufacturers of Blackberries) was incorporated in 1984 by Mike Lazarridis. He didn't foresee the new perspectives it would introduce to global discourses and businesses.

  These four tools enumerated above have revolutionized global events. From the popular Arab Spring to the Occupy Movement in the United States, election campaigns, to social discourses, these tools have redefined everything about modern day living.

  Social media gave a voice to the Occupy Movement and mass protests in the Middle East. It ended the careers of many high profile politicians, damaged celebrity images and gave people platforms to express their views on global issues.

  The Occupy Movement in the United States was born on Twitter when people became fed up with the government and started organizing mass protests. According to Twitter statistics released in October, 2011, over 100,000 different hash tags were used to discuss the Occupy Movement in the United States. Through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, people in Egypt and Libya were able to come together and topple dictators.

  Like the Arab Spring and Occupy Movement in the United States, what role can the social media network play in the new Occupy Nigeria mass protests against government's unpopular decision on fuel subsidy removal? Can the Arab Spring example be replicated here and government policies influenced through these social media network?

In the days leading to the mass protests and nationwide strike, Nigerians had raised alarm over government's plans to shut down Blackberry services wary of the gathering storm of public resentment against fuel subsidy removal. Alarmed by this rumour, Blackberry users in Nigeria, numbering over 300, 000 started posting messages on the internet and through their Blackberry Messenger. In a swift response, management of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), MTN, Gloacom and Etisalat rebuffed the claims.

In recent days, activists, opposition leaders and ordinary Nigerians have used the social media network to disseminate information on venues for protests. Gaffes by supporters of fuel subsidy removal have also been tweeted, facebooked and broadcast through Blackberries. Gory images and videos depicting President Goodluck Jonathan as the villain of the Nigerian people have been exchanged through these media. Reports of violence, killings and police brutality towards protesters are first transmitted through the social media network. Media houses in Nigeria have also seized the window of opportunity presented by the social media network to reach out to the young Nigerian audience.

   President Jonathan also acknowledged the power of the social media network when he lamented in Abuja recently, during the launch of the public mass transit buses that:

    "There are a lot of mischief makers going around to misinform Nigerians, especially through social networks like the Twitter, Blackberry, Facebook and others - to communicate very wrong things to Nigerians."

Popular entertainers have also been using the social media network to criticize President Jonathan's fuel subsidy removal.

   Eldee, the multi-talented entertainer wrote the following on his twitter page: "Why should President Jonathan budget a billion naira for his generators and diesel when he is urging us to believe in his power sector reform? Why does our president need nine private jets and then have the audacity to come on TV and claim to "feel the pain" of Nigerians? Why should we believe the government when it says the subsidy gain will be properly reinvested? A government should lead by example...by example you must not own generators, travel abroad for health care or send your kids abroad to school."

    Music artiste and comedian, Sound Sultan has also been mobilizing for mass protests through his Twitter page. He tweeted the following: "The only place in the world where you have to provide your own light, water, security and tar the road is Nigeria. In Nigeria, new regimes are always worse than the former and we are going to occupy the streets until government listens to us."

One of Nigeria's finest music producers, Don Jazzy posted the following on his Twitter page about the fuel subsidy removal: "I hardly ever regret decisions I make. That my one vote added to put the current government in power is one decision I regret with all my heart. What I don't know is if the man we all voted for deceived us, knowing that he would turn out to be like this, or is there someone else leading us? God help us."

Pastor Tunde Bakare, Dele Momodu, Nasir el-Rufai, Seun Kuti, Fela Durotoye, students, angry Nigerians, journalists, etc, have been mobilized massively through the social media network.

   A mass protest that started small in tiny towns and villages could degenerate and shake the very foundations of this country. The power of the social media network in shaping modern day discourses can't be under-estimated. The mass movement might not achieve its desired goals, but the role of social media in reawakening social awareness among Nigerians will go down in history as uniquely phenomenal. Like the Arab Spring and Occupy Movement in the United States, Nigeria is taking the lead in sub-Sahara Africa as the face of modern emancipation, and the social media network must be credited for that feat.

Facebook users attack Jonathan over subsidy removal

By Bankole Orimisan

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has come under serious attack with many Nigerians taking to the president's Facebook page to vent their anger against the removal of fuel subsidy by the government.

  The president's page showed that his New Year message, which was posted on the site, has attracted more 7000 comments, mostly criticising the government for ending the fuel subsidy regime. Some even went as far as calling the president in unprintable names.

  In his post, Matthew Arikanki said, "When Nigerians voted for President Goodluck Jonathan, they thought now they have their man at the seat of government, that he will take decisions that will alleviate the suffering of the masses. But we were wrong."

   Justice Emeka Obi said, "Mr. President is taking us to the biblical Golgotha- a place of misery, destitution and death. We must stop him now before we get there."

  Adebayo Ibikunle Farounbi said, "Mr. President Sir, laudable as your achievements in 2011 seems, your 1st step in 2012 has rubbished them.

  Shaman Felix Egi-Jesu said, "Mr. President, God pass you. I have been stuck in traffic at Lokoja for the past one hour. We truly love your fresh air."

  Adeolu Paul said "Can somebody tell me: is Jonathan a disgrace to the entire academic world or to his alma mata?"

  Amaechi Anakpe said "Why not experiment with say 25 per cent subsidy removal and show Nigerians the benefit thereof before a dive into abyss. I only pray the complexes that abound now do not consume our entity and cohesion."

  Some of the president's however pleaded with Nigerians to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Chris Okechukwu Dike said, "Nigerians should please give Goodluck a chance and let history be the judge. He is anxious to serve the nation well. Example is power, regular fuel, aviation and works. God bless us."

  Mike Omeri said, "If Okonjo-Iweala, Allison-Madueke and Aganga are World Bank/IMF agents and that is why they pushed for subsidy removal, I know for a fact that Lamido Sanusi is not and he was pushing for subsidy removal even before Iweala came on board. Oshiomhole, labour leader per excellence, (I'm not necessarily saying he's a good governor) supports the subsidy removal and has said as much to his labour union colleagues. If Sanusi and Oshiomhole support the subsidy removal, there must be some sense in it. Let's rally round the government to ensure the policy works for all of us.