By Bankole Orimisan
For those living on less than $2/day, entry-level broadband costs an average of 40 per cent of monthly income, and in many countries this figure exceeds 80 per cent or 100 per cent. As a result, billions cannot afford to get online, entrenching the digital divide and constraining economic and social progress.
This is the key finding of the Alliance for Affordable Internet’s (A4AI – a4ai.org) first Affordability Report – a major study into the drivers of Internet affordability in 46 developing and emerging countries. A4AI is a global coalition of more than 40 members, whose global sponsors are Google, Omidyar Network, and the UK Department for International Development and U.S. AID.
The report also includes an ‘Affordability Index’, which ranks nations across communications infrastructure and access and affordability indicators fundamental to achieving affordable Internet. Malaysia, Mauritius and Brazil top the Index, with Morocco ranked as the leading developing country. Zimbabwe, Malawi and Yemen prop up the foot of the table.
According to the report, the approximately two billion people living on less than $2/day in the 46 countries studied, the UN Broadband Commission target of entry-level broadband services priced at less than five per cent of average monthly income remains far from attainable. For this group, the cost of entry-level broadband exceeds on average 40 per cent of monthly income. In Zambia, for example, there are over 10 million people who live in extreme poverty, who would have to spend at least 35 per cent of their income to afford mobile broadband services or 135 per cent of their income to access fixed broadband.
However, broadband markets that price Internet access out of reach for the majority of people are neither socially nor economically efficient. Well-rounded policies that consider broadband access as a tool for socio-economic development and increase both supply of and demand for broadband must be put in place. Competition alone will not ensure affordable access to broadband services in emerging and developing countries.
Commenting on the report, Dr. Bitange Ndemo, honorary chairperson of A4AI and the immediate former Permanent Secretary of Kenya’s Ministry of Information and Communications, said: “The Affordability Report must serve as a spur to action for policymakers, businesses and civil society organisations around the globe. In just two years, the UN Broadband Commission target is for everyone, everywhere to be able to access broadband Internet at a cost of less than five per cent of their monthly income. Our data shows that there is a long way to go before this goal is reached, particularly for the world’s poorest people.”
Sonia Jorge, executive director of A4AI added: “Within our findings, there are beacons of hope. Countries such as Malaysia, Brazil or Morocco, which top our Affordability Index, show how rapid progress can be made when innovative technologies are twinned with an enabling, forward-looking policy and regulatory environment which stimulates supply as well as demand.
Thursday, 23 January 2014
IT infrastructure maintenance to save cost by 30%
By Bankole Orimisan
IN an effort to reduce operating cost in the country, Venema Advies Nigeria Limited,has said a professionally maintained information technology (IT) infrastructure could save organisations operating costs (Opex) about 30 per cent.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Dick Venema, has said, that the practice where companies adopt what he described as ‘the break-fix model’, is costing firms huge sums of money, adding that lack of professional IT advice is responsible for this development.
Venema, who spoke over the weekend in Lagos, said: “This is not how it works; in most cases, equipment is not broken; it is just badly maintained. This is usually due to the absence technical knowledge of IT by consultants and bad advice from some of the IT companies. Very high IT cost results from this as companies just keep on spending. Companies can optimise IT just by maintaining it well. That will reduce the cost that companies have by buying new equipment every time that something goes wrong. I think for most companies, they can save about 30 per cent at least a year by just maintaining the environment right as in good service. This, however, should not be limited to equipment but everything must be kept running smoothly.
He noted that It all begins with the right advice and if the consultant who advises the company has no knowledge of what is happening in the IT world, he would not be able to advise the chief information officer (CIO) or CEO on the right solutions.”
He cited internet connections as where a lot of companies are still running on slow satellite connection while optic fibre cable (OFC) is available through the street.
He said though OFC connection might be expensive over satellite or aerial connection, it has the advantage of stability.
He said: “What we see in Nigeria is that most companies are spending a lot of money on IT and still it is not working. So what we would like to offer them is a free cloud assessment of the current environment and to see how we can upgrade to a private or public cloud without any or minimal capital cost. No public datacenter or rack space is needed. Your own private cloud in your company without high costs upfront. We deliver complete private clouds with subscription models for VMWare, Microsoft, Symantec, RES and Trend Micro.”
He said the firm is partnering with Immarsat, a satellite firm, to bring capacities into the country at affordable prices to boost the economy, adding that connectivity is central to economic prosperity. He said: “The Global Express technology that Inmarsat presented at AfriCom in South Africa, promises to deliver a higher capacity for prices basically comparable to the fibre connections here in Nigeria. “For companies which don’t have access to fibre connection, they still can get this 50 megabytes (Mb) speed by satellite. There is a long way to go in Nigeria for national fibre coverage. A lot of companies are still on satellite. Attaining a 10-20Mb speed for a comparable price brings cloud computing closer for companies that do not have high capacity access now. Inmarsat has a strategic alliance with Cisco to develop a platform for more advanced applications such as TV-on- demand, tele-presence and collaborative working.”
He said the company is working towards delivering complete IT solutions together with its partners, adding that with services and products, it delivers turnkey projects related to connectivity, computing environments and communication.
“We can build cloud or traditional ICT environments, we can transfer them, and we can maintain at any environment that is needed by a company. Together with our international partners, we all create the best possible IT solutions,” he said, urging companies to take advantage of the free assessment it is offering firms in the country to save cost and increase productivity.
IN an effort to reduce operating cost in the country, Venema Advies Nigeria Limited,has said a professionally maintained information technology (IT) infrastructure could save organisations operating costs (Opex) about 30 per cent.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Dick Venema, has said, that the practice where companies adopt what he described as ‘the break-fix model’, is costing firms huge sums of money, adding that lack of professional IT advice is responsible for this development.
Venema, who spoke over the weekend in Lagos, said: “This is not how it works; in most cases, equipment is not broken; it is just badly maintained. This is usually due to the absence technical knowledge of IT by consultants and bad advice from some of the IT companies. Very high IT cost results from this as companies just keep on spending. Companies can optimise IT just by maintaining it well. That will reduce the cost that companies have by buying new equipment every time that something goes wrong. I think for most companies, they can save about 30 per cent at least a year by just maintaining the environment right as in good service. This, however, should not be limited to equipment but everything must be kept running smoothly.
He noted that It all begins with the right advice and if the consultant who advises the company has no knowledge of what is happening in the IT world, he would not be able to advise the chief information officer (CIO) or CEO on the right solutions.”
He cited internet connections as where a lot of companies are still running on slow satellite connection while optic fibre cable (OFC) is available through the street.
He said though OFC connection might be expensive over satellite or aerial connection, it has the advantage of stability.
He said: “What we see in Nigeria is that most companies are spending a lot of money on IT and still it is not working. So what we would like to offer them is a free cloud assessment of the current environment and to see how we can upgrade to a private or public cloud without any or minimal capital cost. No public datacenter or rack space is needed. Your own private cloud in your company without high costs upfront. We deliver complete private clouds with subscription models for VMWare, Microsoft, Symantec, RES and Trend Micro.”
He said the firm is partnering with Immarsat, a satellite firm, to bring capacities into the country at affordable prices to boost the economy, adding that connectivity is central to economic prosperity. He said: “The Global Express technology that Inmarsat presented at AfriCom in South Africa, promises to deliver a higher capacity for prices basically comparable to the fibre connections here in Nigeria. “For companies which don’t have access to fibre connection, they still can get this 50 megabytes (Mb) speed by satellite. There is a long way to go in Nigeria for national fibre coverage. A lot of companies are still on satellite. Attaining a 10-20Mb speed for a comparable price brings cloud computing closer for companies that do not have high capacity access now. Inmarsat has a strategic alliance with Cisco to develop a platform for more advanced applications such as TV-on- demand, tele-presence and collaborative working.”
He said the company is working towards delivering complete IT solutions together with its partners, adding that with services and products, it delivers turnkey projects related to connectivity, computing environments and communication.
“We can build cloud or traditional ICT environments, we can transfer them, and we can maintain at any environment that is needed by a company. Together with our international partners, we all create the best possible IT solutions,” he said, urging companies to take advantage of the free assessment it is offering firms in the country to save cost and increase productivity.
Global fake software losses hit billions of dollars yearly
By Bankole Orimisan
ONLINE piracy is usually associated with illegally downloading and copying movies, TV shows, music, games and books, but another industry is also greatly affected by this kind of theft: computer software.
Since most people defend their decision to illegally download or buy counterfeit software by saying that they do it in order to save money, the irony is that it could cost them dearly in the end.
A study which was conducted by market research company International Data Corporation (IDC) on behalf of Microsoft, revealed that software piracy is not only costing the software manufacturers, developers and resellers money, but that consumers and businesses are losing billions of dollars due to losses they suffer because they have used counterfeit software. In the end, it would have often cost less to just buy the real software.
The IDC study, called “The Dangerous World of Counterfeit and Pirated Software”, found that the chances of infection due to unexpected malware were one in three for consumers and three in ten for businesses, and that consumers would spend an estimated 1.5 billion hours and $22 billion identifying, repairing and recovering from the impact of the malware, while it would cause global businesses to shell out approximately $144 billion in 2013. IDC said that potential losses from data breaches could reach nearly $350 billion this year.
Pirated software refers to software that has been knowingly and illegally duplicated and distributed and is unlicensed. Counterfeit software is fake software presented as the genuine article, and it often contains a nasty surprise in the form of malware that has already been embedded into it, which is why it puts so many consumers’ and businesses’ machines and networks at risk.
Most of the victims are actually honest consumers who buy seemingly great computer deals from rogue sellers. In the beginning of this year, when many people were buying computers for their kids for university and school and for themselves to use at the office or at home, there was actually a police raid at two branches of a prominent computer dealer in Pretoria, who faced allegations of having sold counterfeit software and PCs loaded with illegal software to unsuspecting customers. When you fall victim in this way, you only realise that your software is invalid and your machine therefore basically unusable once you have to validate the software online by entering the license key.
This could become a major problem again soon, as we enter the holiday shopping season. Although the IDC survey didn’t include South Africa, Microsoft South Africa conducted an informal survey of their own and found that close to a third of respondents had unwittingly installed pirated software on their computers in the past two years, which means that they have had to spend time and money recovering from the project – time that could have been better spent on more productive pursuits, such as building their businesses.
Users should stick to buying software and computers from accredited dealers. If a deal is too good to be true, it usually is. And another way to ensure that you are buying genuine software is to make sure that a certificate of authenticity and the original media has been provided.
ONLINE piracy is usually associated with illegally downloading and copying movies, TV shows, music, games and books, but another industry is also greatly affected by this kind of theft: computer software.
Since most people defend their decision to illegally download or buy counterfeit software by saying that they do it in order to save money, the irony is that it could cost them dearly in the end.
A study which was conducted by market research company International Data Corporation (IDC) on behalf of Microsoft, revealed that software piracy is not only costing the software manufacturers, developers and resellers money, but that consumers and businesses are losing billions of dollars due to losses they suffer because they have used counterfeit software. In the end, it would have often cost less to just buy the real software.
The IDC study, called “The Dangerous World of Counterfeit and Pirated Software”, found that the chances of infection due to unexpected malware were one in three for consumers and three in ten for businesses, and that consumers would spend an estimated 1.5 billion hours and $22 billion identifying, repairing and recovering from the impact of the malware, while it would cause global businesses to shell out approximately $144 billion in 2013. IDC said that potential losses from data breaches could reach nearly $350 billion this year.
Pirated software refers to software that has been knowingly and illegally duplicated and distributed and is unlicensed. Counterfeit software is fake software presented as the genuine article, and it often contains a nasty surprise in the form of malware that has already been embedded into it, which is why it puts so many consumers’ and businesses’ machines and networks at risk.
Most of the victims are actually honest consumers who buy seemingly great computer deals from rogue sellers. In the beginning of this year, when many people were buying computers for their kids for university and school and for themselves to use at the office or at home, there was actually a police raid at two branches of a prominent computer dealer in Pretoria, who faced allegations of having sold counterfeit software and PCs loaded with illegal software to unsuspecting customers. When you fall victim in this way, you only realise that your software is invalid and your machine therefore basically unusable once you have to validate the software online by entering the license key.
This could become a major problem again soon, as we enter the holiday shopping season. Although the IDC survey didn’t include South Africa, Microsoft South Africa conducted an informal survey of their own and found that close to a third of respondents had unwittingly installed pirated software on their computers in the past two years, which means that they have had to spend time and money recovering from the project – time that could have been better spent on more productive pursuits, such as building their businesses.
Users should stick to buying software and computers from accredited dealers. If a deal is too good to be true, it usually is. And another way to ensure that you are buying genuine software is to make sure that a certificate of authenticity and the original media has been provided.
Survey sees rise in mobile phone peddling in Nigeria
By Bankole Orimisan
THE high volume of counterfeit and sub-standard mobile phones especially and some other products in the Nigerians market is threat to Nigeria’s economy, raising serious doubts on current efforts by the Federal Government to resuscitate the real sector to contribute meaningfully to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the country.
Recently in Nigeria, it is estimated that over 55 per cent of imported products are fake and substandard.
An estimated N15 billion is believed to be lost yearly to fake or counterfeit goods in terms of loss of tax revenue to the government, income to local manufacturers, and employment generation to Nigerians.
In fact, it is a tragedy to report that in Nigeria, for every fast selling genuine product circulating, counterfeiters would either pirate or produce something similar without regards for standards and specifications.
A ‘grey’ market is where a product is bought and sold outside of the manufacturer’s authorised trading channels, but the products are originally produced by the brand.
Speaking to some dealers operating at the Computer Village in Ikeja, Lagos, which is the biggest open market for computer and phones in Nigeria, it was gathered that some stores now mix original products with substandard ones, as well as grey products.
In an interview with our correspondent, the Chief Executive Officer, PTV Phones, Banji Adesanmi, said that the sales of substandard phones in the country had prevailed for a very long time and had generated a lot of complaints among consumers.
He pointed out that there were cases of ‘fake’ phones in the market, which are products of desperate dealers, who want to leverage on the names of popular brands.
According to him, some importers also bring in some unpopular brands into the country, which do not meet quality control tests, and have no warranty structure or after sales service.
He said, “The only warranty they have is when customers come and complain at their shops, they either replace the product or look for other things to do. The irony of this is that, such customer will to get another substandard phone for the one being replaced.”
Reacting on what is currently obtainable in most phone markets, Adesanmi said, “There are some people, for the sake of getting one or two dollars addition on a product, who can go as far as selling substandard phones. The sizes of some of these phone dealers do not matter. We know some of them that can fall for this.”
The PTV boss explained that some dealers mix ‘used’ phones with new phones, but only change the casing to deceive consumers.
“Now people sell two original phones with two ‘grey’ or ‘used’ phones. They just put the ‘used’ phones in new casing. Consumers should watch out for this. Before, we used to have people who do just ‘fake phones,’ but now, most of them mix their stock,” he added.
He said the influence of ‘grey’ market was a function of branding, adding that some brands have big cases of the menace, while for others, it has remained minimal.
To counter ‘grey’ marketing, the PTV boss said phone manufacturers should be smart with the pricing of their products as ‘grey’ products were patronised because of their cheap nature, though qualitative.
He said, “Producers should differentiate the product by codes like the IMEI numbers or stickers, and provide after sales service on genuine products.
“In Nigeria, some brands have advanced intelligence to detect large volumes of their product brought into the country via ‘grey’ channels.”
The Phones and Allied Products Dealers Association (Computer Village chapter) had, in September this year, said the Nigerian phone market had the potential to grow more if operators remained fair in their competition.
The association noted that every brand needed a level playing field to operate in the country.
The President of the association ,Godfrey Nwosu, said that the body remained committed to protecting the interest of all players in the market.
He said the Computer Village was the biggest Information and Communications Technology market in sub-Sahara Africa, but currently on a downward trend owing to some unwholesome market practices.
Nwosu said it was important that phone brands in the market adhered to the ideal rules of engagement, adding that air competition remained very critical to the continuous existence and progress of the Computer Village.
According to him, the market had over 4,000 traders, with an average trader employing about four persons.
The PAPDA president, therefore, called on the government to position the Computer Village for further growth of the economy, owing to its huge wealth-creation potential.
To this end, the Nigerian Communications Commission had, in the past, given an ultimatum to phone manufacturers and distributors selling unapproved phones at the Computer Village to get an approval for their phones at the regulatory body’s office or face serious sanctions.
This followed a massive clampdown by the enforcement unit of the NCC on manufacturers of phones not approved for the Nigerian market.
The NCC is required to approve mobile telephones and any other telecoms equipment before they can be sold and used in Nigeria.
The NCC said the action became necessary due to the fact that some of the mobile phones flooding the Nigerian market had yet to be approved by the commission.
The Head of Enforcement, NCC, Idehen Efosa, was quoted as saying that the commission would not relent in its efforts until every phone imported into the country had been approved.
He said, “We are not asking them to stop selling in the Nigerian market, what we want is for every manufacturer or distributor to submit their phones for approval, and if it passes the test, they can go ahead with business.
“Nigerians must learn to conform to laws guiding the state. Inasmuch as we want the Nigerian economy to grow, it must grow obeying the rules of the industry.”
THE high volume of counterfeit and sub-standard mobile phones especially and some other products in the Nigerians market is threat to Nigeria’s economy, raising serious doubts on current efforts by the Federal Government to resuscitate the real sector to contribute meaningfully to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the country.
Recently in Nigeria, it is estimated that over 55 per cent of imported products are fake and substandard.
An estimated N15 billion is believed to be lost yearly to fake or counterfeit goods in terms of loss of tax revenue to the government, income to local manufacturers, and employment generation to Nigerians.
In fact, it is a tragedy to report that in Nigeria, for every fast selling genuine product circulating, counterfeiters would either pirate or produce something similar without regards for standards and specifications.
A ‘grey’ market is where a product is bought and sold outside of the manufacturer’s authorised trading channels, but the products are originally produced by the brand.
Speaking to some dealers operating at the Computer Village in Ikeja, Lagos, which is the biggest open market for computer and phones in Nigeria, it was gathered that some stores now mix original products with substandard ones, as well as grey products.
In an interview with our correspondent, the Chief Executive Officer, PTV Phones, Banji Adesanmi, said that the sales of substandard phones in the country had prevailed for a very long time and had generated a lot of complaints among consumers.
He pointed out that there were cases of ‘fake’ phones in the market, which are products of desperate dealers, who want to leverage on the names of popular brands.
According to him, some importers also bring in some unpopular brands into the country, which do not meet quality control tests, and have no warranty structure or after sales service.
He said, “The only warranty they have is when customers come and complain at their shops, they either replace the product or look for other things to do. The irony of this is that, such customer will to get another substandard phone for the one being replaced.”
Reacting on what is currently obtainable in most phone markets, Adesanmi said, “There are some people, for the sake of getting one or two dollars addition on a product, who can go as far as selling substandard phones. The sizes of some of these phone dealers do not matter. We know some of them that can fall for this.”
The PTV boss explained that some dealers mix ‘used’ phones with new phones, but only change the casing to deceive consumers.
“Now people sell two original phones with two ‘grey’ or ‘used’ phones. They just put the ‘used’ phones in new casing. Consumers should watch out for this. Before, we used to have people who do just ‘fake phones,’ but now, most of them mix their stock,” he added.
He said the influence of ‘grey’ market was a function of branding, adding that some brands have big cases of the menace, while for others, it has remained minimal.
To counter ‘grey’ marketing, the PTV boss said phone manufacturers should be smart with the pricing of their products as ‘grey’ products were patronised because of their cheap nature, though qualitative.
He said, “Producers should differentiate the product by codes like the IMEI numbers or stickers, and provide after sales service on genuine products.
“In Nigeria, some brands have advanced intelligence to detect large volumes of their product brought into the country via ‘grey’ channels.”
The Phones and Allied Products Dealers Association (Computer Village chapter) had, in September this year, said the Nigerian phone market had the potential to grow more if operators remained fair in their competition.
The association noted that every brand needed a level playing field to operate in the country.
The President of the association ,Godfrey Nwosu, said that the body remained committed to protecting the interest of all players in the market.
He said the Computer Village was the biggest Information and Communications Technology market in sub-Sahara Africa, but currently on a downward trend owing to some unwholesome market practices.
Nwosu said it was important that phone brands in the market adhered to the ideal rules of engagement, adding that air competition remained very critical to the continuous existence and progress of the Computer Village.
According to him, the market had over 4,000 traders, with an average trader employing about four persons.
The PAPDA president, therefore, called on the government to position the Computer Village for further growth of the economy, owing to its huge wealth-creation potential.
To this end, the Nigerian Communications Commission had, in the past, given an ultimatum to phone manufacturers and distributors selling unapproved phones at the Computer Village to get an approval for their phones at the regulatory body’s office or face serious sanctions.
This followed a massive clampdown by the enforcement unit of the NCC on manufacturers of phones not approved for the Nigerian market.
The NCC is required to approve mobile telephones and any other telecoms equipment before they can be sold and used in Nigeria.
The NCC said the action became necessary due to the fact that some of the mobile phones flooding the Nigerian market had yet to be approved by the commission.
The Head of Enforcement, NCC, Idehen Efosa, was quoted as saying that the commission would not relent in its efforts until every phone imported into the country had been approved.
He said, “We are not asking them to stop selling in the Nigerian market, what we want is for every manufacturer or distributor to submit their phones for approval, and if it passes the test, they can go ahead with business.
“Nigerians must learn to conform to laws guiding the state. Inasmuch as we want the Nigerian economy to grow, it must grow obeying the rules of the industry.”
‘Nigeria needs to step up fight against influx of fake mobile phones'
By Bankole Orimisan
Banji Adesanmi is the Chief Executive Officer of Peace Tiding Ventures (PTV) Ltd. PTV recently unveiled a new corporate identity as a full-fledged ICT firm. In this interview with BANKOLE ORIMISAN, he spoke on the ICT Industry and its potential in Nigeria. Excerpt
How would you describe Nigeria’s ICT industry?
The level of sophistication in the industry has increased. Movement of data and communication is easier and faster. Ipad, Phones and Computers can now transfer data. In terms of ICT industry, it is growing and the quality of what is being offered is comparable with the world. The only area to improve on is in the quality of Internet as this will increase the depth of ICT in Nigeria. The transfer of data needs to be achieved more. The industry is exciting as you can check bank account online and a host of other things. Despite the noticeable improvements in the ICT industry, there is the huge need to accelerate further growth. The quality of Internet as I stated before needs to be considerably improved. This is very important to further sustain the growth in the industry.
You said the industry’s sophistication has increased. To what extent do you think government has helped in this regard?
The problem from the government’s side is a generic one for businesses. The problem of injustice has to be resolved. The courts should accelerate the process of justice. Businesses face a lot of encumbrances like power and it hampers our operations. We cannot even interlink our branches due to power failure.
There are technologies in the U.S that you can give instructions during any season through the Internet. You cannot do all these where there is no infrastructure underneath. One of our staff engaged in fraud and it took us four and half years to prosecute the case amidst frustration. When there is justice and order, the Government can then provide infrastructure.
The provision of infrastructure to support business should be the major priority of government as this has hampered a lot of activities. Without solid infrastructural development, the ICT industry cannot achieve desired growth. This is one serious concern to the stakeholders in the ICT industry. When government provides the enabling environment, growth becomes a consistent phenomenon.
What informed the name PTV?
We have been in the market since inception. The Nigerian market is evolving and changing. We as a brand need to rebrand to provide service to every strata of the society. Now, we are transiting to full ICT company. Whatever segment you are in the Nigerian market, we will meet you. We also want to support the loyalty of our customers; they want us to provide other offerings and this informed our decision to expand the coast of our businesses. We want to amplify the customer experience and engage customers more. We are providing integrity alongside exceptional customer satisfaction.
It is also impertinent to state that PTV remains a credible brand name in the ICT Industry. We are leveraging a positive brand heritage to sustain a solid pedigree. PTV has the ambition to occupy the foremost position as Nigeria’s number one phone and electronic retail store. We have over 18 branches across key geographical locations in Nigeria and the strategy is to appeal to every strata of the society. PTV is not just a name but a brand that builds close affinity with customers. We have retooled our internal processes as part of our strategic goal to remain a pro-active and dynamic organisation.
As a player in the device market of Nigeria, how have you been coping with the influx of fake mobile phones?
The influx of fake and substandard phones is capable of crippling the phone market. It also impacts on the nation’s economy negatively. The truth is that the prevalence of fake handsets has denied the average consumers the opportunity of getting value for their hard earned money. The trickle down effects is that consumers begin to lose confidence in the ability of the market to deliver standard telephone handsets due to the prevalence of all these fake phones.
The issue is not new as it has been there from day one. There are also worst issues such as substandard phones without quality control and warranty service. The way PTV responded to this is that we do not engage in this act. We know ourselves in the industry but for us in PTV, we have focused on integrity. This has really worked for us and we stay away from such acts.
What of grey market activities?
The Grey market thrives as a function of the effectiveness of the brand to protect their brands in the warranted market. The advantage of Nigerian warranty is that customers go to their phone outlets directly when the brands came. To kill grey market, it has to be countered with prices. The products also need to be differentiated. Service should also be provided to back up the original brands. It is a function of each brand as it depends on their response to such issues. The phone brands also attempt to blacklist such from their loyalty scheme.
How would you assess future of Nigeria’s phone market?
When we started, what we recognized was the ability to carry huge boxes of phones but the market is changing, customers now want to come directly to stores to ask questions. In those days, we did not have time to respond to questions but now the future is that customers have to be attended to.
That is the future of the market. People want answers as customers should not just go home with devices only. Now, when people come in, we profile them before providing phones to them. We have discovered over time that customer relationship management is very important. This is the more reason we want to leverage on exemplary customer service. Customers want to be given utmost priority as they want to have touch points that give them satisfaction
Banji Adesanmi is the Chief Executive Officer of Peace Tiding Ventures (PTV) Ltd. PTV recently unveiled a new corporate identity as a full-fledged ICT firm. In this interview with BANKOLE ORIMISAN, he spoke on the ICT Industry and its potential in Nigeria. Excerpt
How would you describe Nigeria’s ICT industry?
The level of sophistication in the industry has increased. Movement of data and communication is easier and faster. Ipad, Phones and Computers can now transfer data. In terms of ICT industry, it is growing and the quality of what is being offered is comparable with the world. The only area to improve on is in the quality of Internet as this will increase the depth of ICT in Nigeria. The transfer of data needs to be achieved more. The industry is exciting as you can check bank account online and a host of other things. Despite the noticeable improvements in the ICT industry, there is the huge need to accelerate further growth. The quality of Internet as I stated before needs to be considerably improved. This is very important to further sustain the growth in the industry.
You said the industry’s sophistication has increased. To what extent do you think government has helped in this regard?
The problem from the government’s side is a generic one for businesses. The problem of injustice has to be resolved. The courts should accelerate the process of justice. Businesses face a lot of encumbrances like power and it hampers our operations. We cannot even interlink our branches due to power failure.
There are technologies in the U.S that you can give instructions during any season through the Internet. You cannot do all these where there is no infrastructure underneath. One of our staff engaged in fraud and it took us four and half years to prosecute the case amidst frustration. When there is justice and order, the Government can then provide infrastructure.
The provision of infrastructure to support business should be the major priority of government as this has hampered a lot of activities. Without solid infrastructural development, the ICT industry cannot achieve desired growth. This is one serious concern to the stakeholders in the ICT industry. When government provides the enabling environment, growth becomes a consistent phenomenon.
What informed the name PTV?
We have been in the market since inception. The Nigerian market is evolving and changing. We as a brand need to rebrand to provide service to every strata of the society. Now, we are transiting to full ICT company. Whatever segment you are in the Nigerian market, we will meet you. We also want to support the loyalty of our customers; they want us to provide other offerings and this informed our decision to expand the coast of our businesses. We want to amplify the customer experience and engage customers more. We are providing integrity alongside exceptional customer satisfaction.
It is also impertinent to state that PTV remains a credible brand name in the ICT Industry. We are leveraging a positive brand heritage to sustain a solid pedigree. PTV has the ambition to occupy the foremost position as Nigeria’s number one phone and electronic retail store. We have over 18 branches across key geographical locations in Nigeria and the strategy is to appeal to every strata of the society. PTV is not just a name but a brand that builds close affinity with customers. We have retooled our internal processes as part of our strategic goal to remain a pro-active and dynamic organisation.
As a player in the device market of Nigeria, how have you been coping with the influx of fake mobile phones?
The influx of fake and substandard phones is capable of crippling the phone market. It also impacts on the nation’s economy negatively. The truth is that the prevalence of fake handsets has denied the average consumers the opportunity of getting value for their hard earned money. The trickle down effects is that consumers begin to lose confidence in the ability of the market to deliver standard telephone handsets due to the prevalence of all these fake phones.
The issue is not new as it has been there from day one. There are also worst issues such as substandard phones without quality control and warranty service. The way PTV responded to this is that we do not engage in this act. We know ourselves in the industry but for us in PTV, we have focused on integrity. This has really worked for us and we stay away from such acts.
What of grey market activities?
The Grey market thrives as a function of the effectiveness of the brand to protect their brands in the warranted market. The advantage of Nigerian warranty is that customers go to their phone outlets directly when the brands came. To kill grey market, it has to be countered with prices. The products also need to be differentiated. Service should also be provided to back up the original brands. It is a function of each brand as it depends on their response to such issues. The phone brands also attempt to blacklist such from their loyalty scheme.
How would you assess future of Nigeria’s phone market?
When we started, what we recognized was the ability to carry huge boxes of phones but the market is changing, customers now want to come directly to stores to ask questions. In those days, we did not have time to respond to questions but now the future is that customers have to be attended to.
That is the future of the market. People want answers as customers should not just go home with devices only. Now, when people come in, we profile them before providing phones to them. We have discovered over time that customer relationship management is very important. This is the more reason we want to leverage on exemplary customer service. Customers want to be given utmost priority as they want to have touch points that give them satisfaction
TECNO empowers local software developers
By Bankole Orimisan
LEADING mobile phone maker TECNO mobile, has showed off its commitments in supporting and encouraging local software developers by rewarding winners of indigenous and local software developers.
The event, which was held in Lagos, saw the Platinum winner carting home the sum of N1million and a TECNO smartphone. Other winners in Gold and silver category took home the sum of N500, 000 and N250, 000 with smartphones respectively while smartphone prizes were also given to multiple entries winners.
The Deputy General Manager, TECNO Mobile, Chidi Oknkwo, said: “This is the first edition commenced in 1st June, 2013 with the invitation of software developers to participate in the App challenge with the aim of identifying and rewarding creativity and technological knowledge, in other words, ‘an application created by you for you.’”
According to him, apart from supporting local developers, the award ceremony was also part of the company’s corporate social responsibility. TECNO is not only in Africa to provide the best phone devices but also to serve the people and help in discovering talents in Nigeria in other to support local developers in improving their skills in mobile apps development.
Nigeria, he said would soon be rubbing shoulders with the rest of the world in software developing as a result of her various programmes in creating world class applications that would meet the real needs of phone users. He said, TECNO in partnership with co- creation Hub will continue to encourage and support indigenous local software developers.
In his word, TECNO’s goal is to join and collaborate with other ICT firms to discover more local talents in software developing. We want to help in transforming lives of millions of Nigerians especially the youths through this kind of initiative and we are also planning to have much wider software developing training support for talents in Nigeria.
He maintained that TECNO had committed to building appealing, easy- to- use mobile apps to help Nigeria phone users enjoy their TECNO devices better. Our core business is applications and technology development. We recognized the need for partnership and collaboration because fast growing portfolio of mobile applications would be fueled by efficient developer ecosystem, Chidi said,
TECNO mobile which recently launched Phantom AIII into Nigerian market has transform the software developer experience with Phantom A+, creating an open platform to enable developers especially the local ones to leverage their range of skills! While in the same time making provision for them with tools to simplify the development process.
LEADING mobile phone maker TECNO mobile, has showed off its commitments in supporting and encouraging local software developers by rewarding winners of indigenous and local software developers.
The event, which was held in Lagos, saw the Platinum winner carting home the sum of N1million and a TECNO smartphone. Other winners in Gold and silver category took home the sum of N500, 000 and N250, 000 with smartphones respectively while smartphone prizes were also given to multiple entries winners.
The Deputy General Manager, TECNO Mobile, Chidi Oknkwo, said: “This is the first edition commenced in 1st June, 2013 with the invitation of software developers to participate in the App challenge with the aim of identifying and rewarding creativity and technological knowledge, in other words, ‘an application created by you for you.’”
According to him, apart from supporting local developers, the award ceremony was also part of the company’s corporate social responsibility. TECNO is not only in Africa to provide the best phone devices but also to serve the people and help in discovering talents in Nigeria in other to support local developers in improving their skills in mobile apps development.
Nigeria, he said would soon be rubbing shoulders with the rest of the world in software developing as a result of her various programmes in creating world class applications that would meet the real needs of phone users. He said, TECNO in partnership with co- creation Hub will continue to encourage and support indigenous local software developers.
In his word, TECNO’s goal is to join and collaborate with other ICT firms to discover more local talents in software developing. We want to help in transforming lives of millions of Nigerians especially the youths through this kind of initiative and we are also planning to have much wider software developing training support for talents in Nigeria.
He maintained that TECNO had committed to building appealing, easy- to- use mobile apps to help Nigeria phone users enjoy their TECNO devices better. Our core business is applications and technology development. We recognized the need for partnership and collaboration because fast growing portfolio of mobile applications would be fueled by efficient developer ecosystem, Chidi said,
TECNO mobile which recently launched Phantom AIII into Nigerian market has transform the software developer experience with Phantom A+, creating an open platform to enable developers especially the local ones to leverage their range of skills! While in the same time making provision for them with tools to simplify the development process.
‘Why solar-powered BTS is unpopular in Nigeria’
By Bankole Orimisan
THE cost of acquiring land, solar panels and vandalism are some of the reasons why telecom operators are not embracing renewable energy as alternative energy source to fossil fuels, which is costlier and less environment-friendly.
Chief Executive Officer, Prostar Global Energy Limited, Hyacint Udemba, said that subscribers should not expect any further reduction in end user tariffs because the federal government failed to provide the requisite infrastructure and security to the operators.
According to him, the threat of vandalism is one major factor operators cannot embrace the use of renewable energy even in the face of rising cost of petroleum products.
“The challenges associated with providing renewable energy to the BTS are many. Number one is the capacity of the BTS. The amount of solar panels required will occupy a large surface area and there are problems getting land. They have to pay heavily to all manners of persons and groups. To get a piece of land to install solar panel which will be able to serve about 12,000 watts of power required by each BTS, you require a solar panel of not less than 10,000 watts and that will occupy a surface area of between 50-60 square meters. This is not easy,” he explained.
Udemba, who spoke at the over the weekend in Lagos, also decried the level of insecurity in the country.
“You have to provide security to the solar panels because they will be stolen. If people steal bridge rails, iron pipes used to protect people from running into the Atlantic Ocean, if they steal streetlights, they certainly will steal solar panels. So another factor is the security implication,” he said.
He recalled that the late General Sani Abacha attempted to use solar to power the communication system of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) but was frustrated as the panels were sabotaged by unscrupulous elements.
“When the late General Abacha was around, he commissioned the use of solar cells to power the railway communication gadgets but within six months of installation, they were all vandalised.
“Abacha was resuscitating rail transportation then and you cannot use the rail without having communication links as they move from one station to the other. Now to make sure that communication is enhanced, solar was used,” he said, lamenting that vandals ensured that it never saw the light of day,” he said.
However, “With the right infrastructure configuration at the cell site, a mobile operator can achieve both capital and operational cost savings, including a reduction in the cost per Watt of power to run each base station, whether from erratic grid supplies or when using diesel and alternative power sources,” says Peter Jackson, director for Communication Components, at Africa Com in Cape Town.
Jackson says: “Our message to operators everywhere is Optimise! Optimise! Optimise! Optimise the air interface, the RF plan, the network design, but don’t forget to optimise the cell site – how it’s equipped, configured and managed.”
Jackson said that while operators in countries such as South Africa and Nigeria were forging ahead with latest technology deployments and progress, many in the rest of Africa, whilst aspiring to latest technology roll-outs, were still relying, for the most part, on their existing 2G assets to deliver core services and revenues.
“Although we see many big operator groups in Africa, they don’t tend to dictate across the board that their regional companies adopt and use technology in a similar way because such an approach just won’t work; every country has its own unique challenges and effectiveness comes down to local decisions. Operating companies have their own legacies and no one size fits all. That’s why bespoke solutions and configurations of equipment at the cell site are so relevant.”
But Jackson has a key message to stress: “Bespoke is often a word which conjures up the image of being more expensive than an off-the-shelf solution. In the case of cell-site enhancement and optimisation solutions, however, bespoke does not need to be expensive and the dramatic improvement in network service capacity and quality such an approach will deliver, together with capex and opex savings, makes it an essential ‘no-brainer’ for operators.”
From using state-of-the-art Bi-Sector Array™ antennas and the latest power converter technology, together with effective engineering O&M regimes, including the latest in PIM (Passive Intermodulation) detection and rectification tools and procedures, cell site enhancement and optimization should be addressed as a matter of urgency for all operators.
Jackson concludes: “If you consider that Nigeria alone has some 20,000 base stations in operation and analysts project the country needs 70,000 to achieve optimum coverage for its rural and urban populations, for just a fraction of those to be underperforming without an effective cell site enhancement and optimization strategy, means operators are potentially throwing away major revenues and are unlikely to be delivering the quality of service they could.”
THE cost of acquiring land, solar panels and vandalism are some of the reasons why telecom operators are not embracing renewable energy as alternative energy source to fossil fuels, which is costlier and less environment-friendly.
Chief Executive Officer, Prostar Global Energy Limited, Hyacint Udemba, said that subscribers should not expect any further reduction in end user tariffs because the federal government failed to provide the requisite infrastructure and security to the operators.
According to him, the threat of vandalism is one major factor operators cannot embrace the use of renewable energy even in the face of rising cost of petroleum products.
“The challenges associated with providing renewable energy to the BTS are many. Number one is the capacity of the BTS. The amount of solar panels required will occupy a large surface area and there are problems getting land. They have to pay heavily to all manners of persons and groups. To get a piece of land to install solar panel which will be able to serve about 12,000 watts of power required by each BTS, you require a solar panel of not less than 10,000 watts and that will occupy a surface area of between 50-60 square meters. This is not easy,” he explained.
Udemba, who spoke at the over the weekend in Lagos, also decried the level of insecurity in the country.
“You have to provide security to the solar panels because they will be stolen. If people steal bridge rails, iron pipes used to protect people from running into the Atlantic Ocean, if they steal streetlights, they certainly will steal solar panels. So another factor is the security implication,” he said.
He recalled that the late General Sani Abacha attempted to use solar to power the communication system of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) but was frustrated as the panels were sabotaged by unscrupulous elements.
“When the late General Abacha was around, he commissioned the use of solar cells to power the railway communication gadgets but within six months of installation, they were all vandalised.
“Abacha was resuscitating rail transportation then and you cannot use the rail without having communication links as they move from one station to the other. Now to make sure that communication is enhanced, solar was used,” he said, lamenting that vandals ensured that it never saw the light of day,” he said.
However, “With the right infrastructure configuration at the cell site, a mobile operator can achieve both capital and operational cost savings, including a reduction in the cost per Watt of power to run each base station, whether from erratic grid supplies or when using diesel and alternative power sources,” says Peter Jackson, director for Communication Components, at Africa Com in Cape Town.
Jackson says: “Our message to operators everywhere is Optimise! Optimise! Optimise! Optimise the air interface, the RF plan, the network design, but don’t forget to optimise the cell site – how it’s equipped, configured and managed.”
Jackson said that while operators in countries such as South Africa and Nigeria were forging ahead with latest technology deployments and progress, many in the rest of Africa, whilst aspiring to latest technology roll-outs, were still relying, for the most part, on their existing 2G assets to deliver core services and revenues.
“Although we see many big operator groups in Africa, they don’t tend to dictate across the board that their regional companies adopt and use technology in a similar way because such an approach just won’t work; every country has its own unique challenges and effectiveness comes down to local decisions. Operating companies have their own legacies and no one size fits all. That’s why bespoke solutions and configurations of equipment at the cell site are so relevant.”
But Jackson has a key message to stress: “Bespoke is often a word which conjures up the image of being more expensive than an off-the-shelf solution. In the case of cell-site enhancement and optimisation solutions, however, bespoke does not need to be expensive and the dramatic improvement in network service capacity and quality such an approach will deliver, together with capex and opex savings, makes it an essential ‘no-brainer’ for operators.”
From using state-of-the-art Bi-Sector Array™ antennas and the latest power converter technology, together with effective engineering O&M regimes, including the latest in PIM (Passive Intermodulation) detection and rectification tools and procedures, cell site enhancement and optimization should be addressed as a matter of urgency for all operators.
Jackson concludes: “If you consider that Nigeria alone has some 20,000 base stations in operation and analysts project the country needs 70,000 to achieve optimum coverage for its rural and urban populations, for just a fraction of those to be underperforming without an effective cell site enhancement and optimization strategy, means operators are potentially throwing away major revenues and are unlikely to be delivering the quality of service they could.”
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