Decision time....Acting President Goodluck Jonathan

The Presidency’s leanning is towards getting an insider with the requisite competence to succeed the outgoing EVC/CEO, Ernest Ndukwe, as one of the measures to sustain the gains of telecom boom in the nation’s telecoms market.

Whatever decision is taken, two people within NCC are now within radar on the shortlist for the keenly-contested job according to people conversant with the situation in Aso Rock where Acting President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to announce the person that will run affairs in NCC for the next five years.

The 10-year tenure of outgoing EVC/CEO, Ndukwe ends in April 3, this year.

While interest for the job has come from both within and without, it was learnt that Aso Rock is leaning towards picking an insider as the next chief of the agency.

Efforts to get details of the two people under consideration have so far proved abortive.

March 11, 2010: Outgoing Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Ernest Ndukwe has condemned what he referred to as ‘sponsored’ media campaign by some unnamed “desperate lobbyists” in their bid to succeed him as next boss of the nation’s telecoms regulator.

EVC of NCC, Ernest Ndukwe

Ndukwe, whose 10-year tenure as head of NCC ends on April 3, this year, is irked by unnamed people who have resorted to what he sees as media campaign to enable them secure the position and lashed out at them as “desperate lobbyists attempting to use the media to achieve their selfish motives.”

The obviously livid EVC, who made the observation in a press statement issued by the Commission’s spokesman, Reuben Muoka, said that NCC is worried by numerous media reports and attention that the appointment of the agency’s next boss has generated in the public domain.

“The Commission is also concerned about the unusual attention directed on this issue in the media, and the level of propaganda, sentiments and insinuations attending these reports, some of which have no basis or reference to the position of the law guiding the appointment of the chief executive of the Commission”, he added.

Ndukwe says that, “the frequency of these damaging speculations has become very suspect. The Commission wishes to dissociate itself from these wild speculations and insinuations which may have been fuelled by some desperate lobbyists attempting to use the media to achieve their selfish motives.”

He also clarified that, “for the avoidance of doubt, it is the prerogative of the President of the Federation to appoint the new chief executive officer for the Commission at the appropriate time. We are confident that such decision will not be based on sentiments and insinuations sponsored in the media.”

So far, NCC insiders and telecoms sector professionals have joined the race to become the next EVC of the Commission in what is currently driving an unprecedented interest and lobby for the position.

Some of the people that have been named in the race to become the next EVC include former Director, MTS First Wireless, Eugene Juwa among others officials of NCC Vice President (Academics & Student Affairs) in Kano, Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), Umar Garba Danbatta, who is a professor at the institution set up by NCC.

Others include current Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, NCC, Stephen Adedayo Bello and Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, NCC, Bashir Gwandu.

The Director of New Media & Information Security Dept., NCC, Sylvanus Ehikioya and Director of NCC’s Consumer Affairs Dept., Lolia Emakpore, the only female so far known to be in the race to succeed her boss, have also been linked with the bid for the office alongside Secretary of Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), Funso Fayomi, seen as the latest addition to the intense race.

Outside NCC, the President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria ATCON), Emmanuel Ekuwem and President, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo have also been linked with bid t succeed Ndukwe.

Executive Director, Mobility/New Ventures, Linkserve, Alan Tapfumaneyi at TECHNOLOGY TIMES Outlook 2010 Summit

The Internet has come a long way from the time of the research driven, text based ARPANET and the first commercial usage of Internet using X.25, to the current multi-media Web that we are using today.  Following commercialization and introduction of privately run Internet service providers in the 1980s, and the Internet’s expansion for popular use in the 1990s, the Internet has had a drastic impact on culture and commerce. This includes the rise of near instant communication by electronic mail (e-mail), text based discussion forums, and the World Wide Web. Investor speculation in new markets provided by these innovations would also lead to the inflation and subsequent collapse of the Dot-com bubble. But despite this, the Internet continues to grow, driven by commerce, greater amounts of online information and knowledge and social networking known as Web 2.0.

In the developed countries today, data and multimedia services are the fastest growing areas in the telecommunication sector. Companies are shifting their focus from voice telephony and casting huge investments into the data connectivity. This has been accelerated by the ever increasing demand for more bandwidth and faster access speeds as e-commerce out paces high street income for the first time this last holiday season. Gaming stations platforms, home entertainment are fast becoming the headline earners in the ICT economy with more and more businesses going online. The whole printing and publishing industry is set for a total revolution since the invention of the Gutenberg printing press as major news papers have announced a total phasing out of paper based publications. The Internet has truly changed the way we live, learn and do business propelling the development of the human race far beyond what we though possible.

Since the Internet market was opened to competition a few years back, the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) has licensed hundreds of ISPs although not all are operational. Despite this, the bulk of the population of approximately 150 million is still underserved with only eleven million Internet users in Nigeria representing a penetration rate of about 7.4% (ITU) with most users living in the large commercial centers (UNCTAD, 2005). The country’s Internet market remains hugely under-served with  approximately 70% of the Internet subscriber base reported by the local ISPs to account for corporate subscribers while the rest are home, small office and internet café users. Nigeria’s Internet sector has been hindered by the country’s underdeveloped and unreliable fixed-line infrastructure, but this is changing as competition intensifies and new technologies are able to deliver wireless broadband access. More than 400 ISPs have been licensed as well as a number of data carriers, Internet exchange and gateway operators.

The silver lining in these statistics is a staggering 5400% increase in internet users in Nigeria from 2000 to 2009 indicating triple digit annual growth rates. These figures indicate enormous potential in the growth of the Nigerian internet market representing huge business opportunities which is only possible if the necessary push, encouragement and firm implementation of internet-based initiative is available from the necessary regulators, government and industry players most represented here in this forum.

The transformation of Nigeria’s telecommunications landscape since the licensing of three GSM networks in 2001 and a fourth one in 2002 has been nothing short of astounding. The country continues to be one of the fastest growing markets in Africa with triple-digit growth rates almost every single year since 2001. It passed Egypt and Morocco in 2004 to become the continent’s second largest mobile market after South Africa. And yet it has only reached about one quarter of its estimated ultimate market potential and as Internet, data and multimedia based technologies roll out, this prospective can only be better. However the necessary work has to be done in directing the disperse efforts to bring the next wave in telecommunication revolution to fruition.

In the immediate horizon, the deployment of the country’s first Next Generation Networks (NGN) will drive further convergence of voice, data and video/TV, enabling the provision of triple-play services that will ultimately also involve the country’s already competitive broadcasting sector. MainOne, Glo and other consortiums have started laying the foundation for this new generation for services. The stranglehold Nigeria has experienced in Internet bandwidth is soon to be over; it will usher in the necessary price correction in bandwidth cost and increase the reliability with the obvious redundancy. There are also several satellites launching in the the next 18 months which have strong regional foot print and advanced service offering able to absorb the increasing traffic demand.

The onset of the latest wireless technologies into this market is exciting as the promise of effective broadband draws near. We have seen various flavours of WiMAX , EDVO and HSPA entering the market but none of these technologies has truly delivered the services on which businesses can build a trading platform. The absence of a market leader in this space has meant no clear direction has been set to date. However this situation is not likely to continue as the next wave of service providers are poised to unleash the Next Generation wireless networks in to the market. It is with great anticipation and excitement that we must all enter this decade.

The emergent of Nigeria as a progressive and dominant economic force in the West Africa region could not have happened without the rapid development of telecommunication services such as we have seen in the past few years. As we are entering this new decade, the fundamentals of world economic dynamics are rapidly changing as income streams, business models and revenue flow becoming totally ICT dependent.

If our Nigeria is to continue to compete, progress and remain a relevant player on the world economic stage, bold and decisive steps are needed by ‘we the people’ to ensure that the foundation and platforms to participate at the highest level are in place.  ‘We the people’ not only includes the ICT players present in the conference but also supporting and dependent industry such as power, regulators, government and institutions.

This timely forum we are all participating in is the first step in identifying these challenges, stumbling blocks and barriers that hinder our concerted efforts to attain and establishing the same levels of successes in ICT that we have experienced in voice telephony. We are the ones to draw the roadmap for the development of Nigeria beyond 2010 and spearhead the next economic surge on the crest. As we strive to get our data and Internet platforms to world class, it is important that we should learn from the key ingredients that made the voice telephony a success story and explore how best we can  exploit these same factors to propel forward.

Most communication experts will agree that the 3 key factors which the GSM and CDM companies had coming into the market were one; a leverage on the appropriate wireless technology, two; access to finance and three; a conducive regulatory environment. Other factors including the power solutions and local content (local voice calls) also helped to propel this market to dizzy heights.

Wireless technologies are developing very quickly in the data arena with more and more bits of information being accommodated per hertz or unit of bandwidth. Base station capacity and end user equipment is also evolving as evidenced by some of early versions of EVDO and HSPA.  As yet, these current technologies have not adequately catered to the increasing bandwidth the average user is demanding. In the last ITU summit, the industry heralded the latest HP-SDMA systems and LTE variants as the panacea for high capacity wireless data networks. A number of such systems have been launched in parts of the world and this latest wave of 4G technologies is already in Nigeria and we at Linkserve are proud to be launching a MBWA iBurst network in the country.

As more service providers and network operators begin to leverage on the newer and appropriate wireless technologies, the regulator has to proactively avail appropriate frequency to enable this. The international regulatory environment is currently going through a number of restructuring of the spectrum usage and designation with more frequency bands being re-harvested for digital data services. We anticipate that the NCC will accelerate the adoption of these new frequency maps and allocate the re-harvested frequency for immediate licensing.

NCC, being the custodian of the USPF, needs to redefine the policies governing the access to this dormant pool of funds. Allowing technopreneurs access to funding to be able to deploy the new and upcoming technologies is the third and most crucial ingredient to catalyze the deployment of next generation networks.

The myth that the limitation of the growth of data services network is the unavailability of or high cost of user devices is soon disappearing as the cost of laptops and computers is now around $200. This is especially so with the latest wave of netbooks, notepads and fusions between mobile phone and mobile computer. In addition, mobile phones are now coming with multiple network type access GSM/WiFi/CDMA thereby allowing users connectivity on an assortment of devices.

Once again we see Linkserve taking the lead in this market as we take on the challenge of market leadership in the wireless broadband space.

Thank you.

TECHNOLOGY TIMES file photo taken July 22, 2008 shows the interior of the NCC library with photographs of senior government officials and technology equipment of previous era just as an intense lobbying gets under way to succeed the agency’s outgoing boss, Ernest Ndukwe (bottom left photo) who has managed affairs at telecoms regulatory since February 2000 Photo: Shina Badaru

The interest in the seat of the influential telecoms regulator has stepped up as the 10-year leadership of outgoing EVC/Chief Executive of the agency, Ernest Ndukwe, comes to a close on April 3, this year, as recently announced by his office.

But the intrigues that have characterised interest in the top seat have shown that the decision to choose a new boss for NCC will be far from easy following high-wire lobbying for the job. It ranks as the toughest  quest for the leadership of the agency since NCC was created in 1992.

Technology Times sources confirmed under conditions of anonymity that the recommendations for appointments into the office has reached the office of the Vice President, something that has also stepped up the influence-peddling among various people, interest groups and entities jostling to head NCC.

KOGI State: Stephen Bello, NCC

Hitherto, indications have emerged that “geopolitical rebalancing”, a term used by insiders in the race, may place a crucial determining role in the quest for the next EVC expected to shape and define the future of telecoms business and growth in the country.

Within the last few months, the telecoms market has come under profound policy, regulatory and market pressure that are poised to shape the next growth phase of the industry amid tapering growth and subscribers’ appetite for new services beyond voice.

As telecoms market subscribers’ growing desire for data and Internet services put pressure on operators to become nimbler, more aggressive and innovative, interest groups seeking to steer the direction the industry will head in the next five years and beyond are seeking new ways to get the ears of Aso Rock, the nation’s seat of power where the final decision will be taken on the next EVC.

KEBBI State: Bashir Gwandu, NCC

Outgoing EVC, Ndukwe has repeatedly said that the final decision on who succeeds him will be taken in Aso Rock but that position has been taken with circumspection after indications emerged that the NCC Board of Commissioners may have forwarded three nominees for consideration to government for the top job.

The race for EVC has also created deep divisions within NCC that has today been marked by polarity along loyalty lines between the camp of the outgoing EVC and various other insiders seeking to succeed him.

According to people conversant with the situation, the three nominees believed to have been forwarded by the NCC Board reveals a succession path that may bear a favourable disposition towards loyalty to the incumbent leadership of the agency among other considerations.

Technology Times had in an exclusive report on January 28, 2010 reported that the NCC Board of Commissioners have forwarded the names of a former top shot of privately owned phone company, MTS First Wireless, Eugene Juwa and two others officials of NCC for consideration to government.

The second nominee by the NCC Board is an ‘insider’ and Vice President (Academics & Student Affairs) in Kano, Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), Umar Garba Danbatta, a professor at the institution set up by NCC.

EDO State: Sylvanus Ehikioya, NCC

The third nominee is another NCC ‘insider’ and current Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Stephen Adedayo Bello. Hitherto, Bello, who was appointed Director of Engineering of NCC in 2000 and Executive Commissioner, Engineering and Standards, in 2005 was the Executive Commissioner,  Licensing and Consumer Affairs.

It is discussed in hushed tone within NCC and industry today that current Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Bashir Gwandu may hardly get the backing of the current leadership of NCC after it was alleged that he may have a hand in last year’s botched bid to unseat Ndukwe. The latter had then attained the age of 60 stipulated for retirement from public service but was retained on account that he was a political appointee.

NCC insiders claim that the experience of last year and various other boardroom conflicts between the EVC and the Commissioner did not make the former a favourite of the latter’s open ambition to succeed him.

Gwandu is believed to have dusted his papers and looked elsewhere within government to advance his ambition of becoming the next EVC. However, he is not alone as his colleague, Stephen Bello, who by no coincidence, was also a colleague of Ndukwe at GT Telecom, where the latter was Managing Director before he was appointed in 2000 with the onerous task of tidying up the legacy of mismanagement of telecoms licences under the previous military regimes.

AKWA IBOM State: Emmanuel Ekuwem, ATCON

Ndukwe was to perform the task creditably when former President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him after coming into power in May 1999 and also saddled him with the task of conducting the 2001 GSM spectrum auctions that was not only celebrated for its transparency, but was to also usher in bigger investors into the telecoms market that were to drive the mobile phone revolution that has raised the nation’s telecoms market to over 70million lines and about 45 per cent teledensity.

The rising investments in the telecoms sector has also benefitted NCC which rakes significant revenue earnings from telecoms endeavours in Nigeria ranging from spectrum fees, annual operating levies and other earnings that also deepened its purses as the fortune of the telecoms market in Nigeria blossomed.

The growing influence of the telecoms market in Nigeria has not only boosted the purse of the regulator but its influence has also grown locally and internationally following the relatively transparent licensing regime that has been firmly entrenched under Ndukwe’s leadership of the agency.

NCC’s influence today has made it  become more attractive some of its top officials that have grown to include the Director of New Media & Information Security Dept., Sylvanus Ehikioya and Director of NCC’s Consumer Affairs Dept., Lolia Emakpore, the only female so far known to be in the race to succeed her boss.
Also in the race is Secretary of Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), Funso Fayomi, seen as the latest addition to the intense race.

Outside NCC, Ndukwe’s has to contend with his constituency’s displeasure that he did not back the ambition of telecoms industry professionals like the President of Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Emmanuel Ekuwem and President, Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo.

RIVERS State: Lolia Emakpore, NCC

The industry feedback is that having been appointed on the platform of ATCON in 2000, when he was the President of the industry’s pressure group, there were expectations that he would have given his backing to moves by industry players to succeed him.

ATCON’s leadership has recently questioned the modalities used by the NCC’s Board in its nomination calling on the telecoms regulator to make them “public”.

However, what is not public knowledge is that geopolitical considerations are now being used as a campaign agenda to get the ears of top government officials to seek backings for the ambition of some interested parties for the NCC’s top job.

Technology Times gathered that the tough decision to choose the next EVC may be taken within the next few days ahead of the April 3 expiration of Ndukwe’s tenure. But the final successor’s choice may not be devoid of the large-scale politicking, lobbying, wheeling and dealing that have characterised the race for the seat.

According to informed sources, a tough battle is underway to convince the Presidency that it was not obliged to pick from the list submitted by the NCC’s Board. But watchers of the political impasse that has been triggered by President Umaru Musa Yar ’Adua reckon that it may impact the selection of the new man to oversee affairs at NCC.

New forces may realign to take advantage of the fallout of that crisis which has brought about realignments of power base even within the seat of government which insiders reckon may work for or against some of the current contenders for the position.

On one hand,  the NCC Board’s choice may carry the day say some political watchers while others express concern over high-level lobby mustered by forces against the decision on groung that they were too formdable to be ignored.
-By Shina Badaru

Senior Manager, Regulatory Affairs, MTN Nigeria speaks at TECHNOLOGY TIMES Outlook 2010

From where I sit, I will make some recommendations and give some suggestions as to what the outlook for 2010 is, or should be, in which direction we should be looking at and where should we be seeing. As they say, the people without direction are likely to go nowhere and achieve nothing.

For us in Nigeria I think we have reached the threshold of quite significant changes in the ICT space. Since 2001, we are this time next year or thereabout, should be marking 10 good years of mobile telephony.

Obviously the vision in the National Telecom Policy that was envisioned in 1999 and 2000 is what definitely led us to where we are now. The question now is what next? I was privileged to attend a conference in the global ICT market where there were so many innovations which are 9 years ahead of where we are.

In the developed markets, we are talking about saturation of telephony or rather ICT penetration because the penetration is not just of telephony but also of the Internet. Cyberspace is no longer out there but here it is here. They are now talking about their personal cloud and carrying that personal cloud wherever they go.

What do I mean by personal cloud? I mean where you have everything you want in terms of information, data, access among others in which you are able to reach your friend, family howsoever way you wish.  Not just with the telephone, through whatever means you want. Also, you can take your work wherever you go. It is not that you need to get to the cybercafé before you get your email. You can take your email with you by howsoever means you want. If you are traveling, you have your notebook. If you are in the office, you have your PC or your laptop and if you are at home you have your multimedia system which incorporates your Internet, your cyberspace technology in addition to providing you with music and so on.

Thing happens out there in the developed world such that you have people who now sit around desks. The main thing was the development of applications; that was it. What sort of application? Anything you could care to think about.

I want to know where my husband is or where are my kids. You can note them and follow them wherever you like on your phone or with whatever device you have accessible to you. Is it finding a rescuer or a particular address? Everything is with the device you have. The device could be your car, phone, laptop or anything you have available within your reach. So they have gone very, very far.

The question is: they are meeting the requirements, demands and the needs of subscribers in their own environment. What are the requirements, demands and needs of subscribers in our environment?

In Nigeria we thank God for the achievements we are able to knock up. The fact that we have over 75 million subscribers in terms of telephony but in terms of Internet access we are still lagging behind in the sense that we having 4 per cent or thereabout. I think we still have a very long way ahead of us.

Another question we need to ask ourselves is why are we here? In the developed country they don’t talk about fundamental issues like power or connectivity or transmission capacity and things like that, they are already there. Here in Nigeria we are still pretty short of it. From an operator’s perspective I just want to highlight that as much as we aspire to see far ahead we still need to focus on the fundamentals issues.

Challenges on our networks include power outages. We still have to generate our own power 10 years down the line. It was the same story we keep hearing about this but the critical factor is we are yet to address these issues. If we were to face the power issue today I believe quite a lot of industries and, not IT industry as it were, would fly. I can assure you but we need to sort that issue out.

We have a fundamental challenge of transmission capacity. Yes, we are rolling out and I think MTN has extremely aggressive capacity. We have invested substantially in the Nigerian economy in making sure that we provide our own transmission capacity. We a very sophisticated microwave and fibre-optic cable network in place that help us carry messages from one end of Nigeria to the other. Unfortunately we have done quite a lot, we are very proud of what we’ve done.

Oyeronke Oyetunde at the Summit

However, there is a need for other operators and for the government to encourage more investments in this particular aspect of our operation. There is absolutely no way we can bring cyberspace to the Nigerian subscriber without ensuring that means of connectivity, the ability to carry messages from one end to the other, is visible and done seriously.

Obviously, there are also some issues in terms of regulatory issues, multiple taxation and several tiers of government wanting to have a piece of the pie. Every day, our work, my work and those of my colleagues tends to focus on addressing the demands from local authorities on some dues, levies among others. These things need to be addressed in our market. Where do we draw the line and how far do we go in ensuring that the cyberspace definitely reaches out to the Nigerian subscribers.

I really must say unless these issues are addressed, we can aspire and definitely look forward, look very far ahead however, our feet will not follow where our vision will go without these fundamental issues.

It is getting very critical because the next stage of what I will call the evolution of the Nigerian ICT industry it is towards consolidating our gains. Yes, we have 75 million subscribers that have access to phone, what next and what about the remaining part of population that are yet not reached?

How do we reach out unto them? There are places that are very remote with little infrastructure. The means of reaching out to this people are very little. We need to call out to the government. The provision of utilities in Nigeria as well as our infrastructure needs to be seriously addressed. We need to make sure we can reach out to people in the villages, in the very rural remote areas who do not even know what a phone is, how much more how to use it.

One of the things that came up to mind today as we were discussing was when mobile telephony started in Nigeria. How many people know what it was all about? I mean why do we need to carry a phone around? Why do I need people to be able to call me wherever I go, can’t they wait for me until I get to my office or reach my house? These were the critical issues. I think everybody now knows the reason they need to have a mobile phone. That is what I mean when I said that the same thing goes for Internet, with having your personal cloud around you and being able to access information anyway and anyhow.

We are moving into the information age. Nigeria is to get into that space. I believe what we have is a start but can be properly cultivated with the few things I have mentioned. These are the critical things we need to address for us to get to where we are going. I can assure you that the operators will run, in fact if possible, will fly to make sure they are able to get their services to the Nigerian subscriber.

In conclusion, one of the things we need to also address and also which I feel needs to be mentioned. Yes, we are moving into broadband. What broadband does in a layman’s term is increase the capacity of the pipe and ability to pass message across which means that, let say for example I was able to carry maybe one or two messages, but with broadband I can do more. Here the emphasis is on data, things like files, music, multimedia and all sort of things which are not just voice.

With data, there is increased capacity and it involves increased investment. There is a need to continue to invest particularly in fibre optic networks in Nigeria. And I think all operators should be encouraged as well as those who also have invested in doing this even by way of physical incentive to continue to roll out. I think it will help tremendously in ensuring that we are able to bring the Internet or the cyberspace to the man on the street.

I also need to address: exactly what do Nigerians want? They need to be encouraged. The reason why people are probably not here, it might be that they really don’t know exactly know what this is all about. It is like how we started in 2001 people really didn’t know the value of mobile phone, the same thing with the Internet, cyberspace and wonderful services that come within the purview of the Nigerian subscribers if they only knew about it and I think for that reason the organisers of this particular summit definitely need to be commended in bringing this issue out to the fore and enabling us to look very far ahead.

I think I have covered quite a few issues and obviously the list is endless but I can assure you that another critical issue for us as well is to see the development of handsets that meets the requirement of all the different kinds of subscribers we have here. We have those who want something very sophisticated and those who want the telephony services. I can assure you that there are people in the global market that provide these things. They should be encouraged to come into Nigeria and to provide proper devices for Nigerian subscribers.

March 5, 2010. The Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), managers of Nigeria’s country code top level domain (ccTLD), .ng, has announced the release of a list of premium domains that will be available from March 1, 2010.

VP, Nigeria Internet Registration Association, Mary Uduma

Vice President, NIRA, Mary Uduma, explained that the move is in tune with the best practices in the industry whereby registries of TLDs delineate some names as “premium”, while stating the reason for the higher market value attached to 6,957 third level premium domain names released by the body.

The list containing mainly generic words have been placed on the premium list while she noted that the desire to quickly populate the .ng registry and to make it affordable necessitated placing a maximum price cap on the cost of some of such domains.

“The Board of Directors of Nigeria Internet Registration Association has approved the list of third level premium domains, and has endorsed the recommendations of the auction committee regarding the categorization and the pricing”, she said in a statement.

“The paramount objective is to populate the .ng registry. The list is subject to NiRA’s existing Policies and Procedures, and NiRA reserves the right to review the list and shall monitor the trend of uptake of the .ng domain name space from time to time, but not for periods earlier than six month-intervals”, NIRA said promising to abide by its policy on premium domains.

On the categorization of the third level premium domain names, NIRA said that the list is clearly categorized in order to avoid any uncertainty, while adding that the third level premium domain names are delineated as Registered Domains and Non-Registered Domains

The organization further classified it into two sub-categories. The first are names that are corporate identity or trademark that are duly registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria and are on the list of registered .ng third level domains prior to the re-delegation of the .ng registry to NiRA.

The second categories are names that are single words or compound words duly registered as third level domains in the .ng registry prior to the re-delegation of the .ng registry.

Others include are names that are corporate identity or trademark but not registered as third level domain in the .ng registry prior to the re-delegation of .ng registry. Also in the next category are names that are single words or compound words that are not registered as third level domains in the .ng registry prior to the re-delegation of the .ng registry.

NIRA noted that all premium third level domain names are to be sold by auction, adding that the pricing for domains in sub-categories A1 and A2 are fixed in accordance with the pricing for the list of Third Level Premium Domain names.

NIRA added that domains in sub-categories B1 and B2 are to be purchased in accordance with NiRA’s Auction process for Third Level Premium Domain names.

Regards to pricing, the organization pointed out that a concessionary capped price of N50,000.00 is to be charged for domains in sub-category A1, adding that concessionary pricing shall be effective from March 1, 2010, but shall not be retroactive as there would be no refunds of monies paid previously for any registrations or renewals of such domains.

A capped price of N100,000.00 for a Corporate identity or trademark duly registered in the .ng registry as well as with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria prior to    March 1, 2010, but after the re-delegation of the .ng registry

NIRA said a capped price of N200, 000.00 for a Single-generic-word domain in sub-category A2 and a fixed price of N100, 000.00 for a compound word-generic-word domain in sub-category A2

According to NIRA, “these pricing for categories A1 and A2 are for a limited period not beyond four weeks from the effective dates. The prices will revert to the conditions for domains in sub-categories B1 and B2 after the four-week period. Owners of the corporate identity or trademark will be given the “first offer of refusal” in sub-category B1. The “buy now” Price for any domain in sub-categories B1 and B2 is N500, 000.00. The pricing referred to here are prices for premium domains in the third level category of premium domains. The list of premium domains is deemed to be effective from March 1st, 2010”.

EVC/Chief Executive, NCC, Ernest Ndukwe

Lagos. March 5, 2010. Outgoing Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Ernest Ndukwe, has urged government to encourage the timely sale of available frequencies for rollout of new services as another mechanism of fostering growth in the telecoms market.

The telecoms regulator’s boss made the observation at a recent stakeholders’ meeting with CEOs of telecoms companies noted that “though a lot has been achieved, there remains a lot more to be done. Government is also fully aware of the fact that economic development and sustenance of any modern nation is dependent on the adequacy of the nation’s telecommunications and information technology infrastructure.

According to him, “the progress made in this sector in Nigeria has made it possible for the nation to participate in the world economy in ways that simply were not thought possible in the past. Within this period, subscriptions to telephone services have risen to the current level of about 76 million active connected lines. This growth and advancement in telecommunication within the last decade has improved the nation’s ICT ranking in the world and has positively impacted all sectors of the nation’s economy. Nigeria has also become Africa’s largest telecom market.”

However, he added that the need for efficient management of the nation’s frequency spectrum resources and timely sale of available ones as one of the seven identified key success factors needed to sustain growth in the Nigeria telecoms market.

The growth was attributed largely to the foresight by government in implementing a successful sector reform and providing the enabling and conducive environment for the implementation of policies and regulatory measures.
According to him, the Nigerian Government has proven its commitment to promoting a Policy regime that is purposeful and forward-looking as well as a regulatory environment that is fair, transparent and predictable.

But Nigeria still needs to grow her teledensity figure from the current level of about 50% to 100% to achieve the Vision 2020 targets, he said adding that, “we must reach all parts of the country with both voice and data bearing infrastructure.”

Ndukwe said other key factors needed to sustain telecoms market growth include:

•    Maintaining stability in the policy and regulatory space.

•    Maintaining the operational and financial independence of the regulatory institution.

•    Maintaining an operating environment that is conducive is essential for attracting investment and avoiding actions that can constitute a disincentive for investment or challenge the sustainability of returns on investment capital. The telecoms sector is very capital intensive and therefore, to continue network expansion, improve quality of service and increase coverage in Nigeria, emphasis must be on ensuring the attractive operating environment.

•    Continued emphasis on growing broadband infrastructure and catalyzing adoption and usage of broadband services by the citizens.

•    Need to continue and encourage the expansion of fibre optic cable transmission infrastructure nationally and internationally.
•    Improved corporate Governance in the industry is also critical to future growth and development of the industry.

He also challenged various industry interest groups to work out measures to address the effects of global financial crisis and Nigerian banking sector reforms on the telecoms market, which has made sourcing of credit for network expansion even more difficult for telecoms operators.

Lagos. February 24, 2010: Leading indigenous PC makers in Nigeria today outlined their roadmap that rather than push boxes, their systems will be bundled with more solutions to enhance user experiences for technology consumers in the country.

CEO, Beta Computers, Will Anyaegbunam

CEOs of Beta Computers, Omatek Computers and Veda Technology said at Day 2 of the three-day TECHNOLOGY TIMES Outlook 2010 Summit that fundamental changes underway is seeing the players in the Nigerian PC market “bundle” more solutions into computers to enhance their value to users.

The local OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) alongside the Nigerian subsidiary of leading international brand, HP, share a common vision that evolving market trends in 2010 will see Nigerian PC buyers getting more in their boxes.

CEO, Beta Computers, makers of the Speedstar brand, Will Anyaegbunam, said that in the year 2010 small, medium and big companies would realize that without IT they would not go far, adding that “we are waiting for that, because we have started putting together solutions that come with hardware which small and medium companies would have to rely on.”

But the optimistic PC makers also cite challenges of government policy and other regulatory challenges as major hurdles on the path of realizing the vision of developing the local PC market and using technology to complement development in the country.

Anyaegbunam also cited that a directive that ministries, agencies and departments of government should “Buy Nigeria” for their PC products have is yet to be effectively implemented.

According to him, the non-implementation of that directive by issued government “when the will was strong” has undermined the industry which has come under intense pressure to cater to the needs of an increasing sophisticated market.

“Without government’s total support for Buy Nigeria”, the vision of growing the local PC market to take its pride of place among leading international brands will continue to be a mirage, says Anyaegbunam, who introduced the Speedstar brand into the market in 1996 while adding that government importation policy is skewed unfairly in favour of foreign brand compared to local PC makers.

According to him, the prevailing import policy regime sees foreign brands bringing their computers into Nigeria at zero duty while their local counterparts pay 5% duty on completely knocked down (CKD) components used in the local manufacture of their brands.

Managing Director, Veda Technology, Bode Pedro

Also speaking at the event, the Managing Director, Veda Technology, an indigenous company that made its Nigeria market debut some six months ago, Bode Pedro, highlighted the challenges of computer penetration in Nigeria.

According to him, the company conducted a market research that revealed that there was less than 10 per cent PC penetration in the Nigerian market.

Pedro said it is interesting to note that Nigeria telephony industry has more than 70 million active subscribers, but on the contrary in terms of PC penetration “we still have a very long way to go”.

“With OEMs, IT partners and the Federal Government, we have to work hard on how to generate awareness and the interest of the people to use computers, especially in the rural areas”, he said.

It is a tall order for local brands against their foreign counterparts in the marketplace as Nigerian brands still continue to suffer buyers’ perception that they were of inferior value, added the MD of Beta Computers.

According to him, there is an urgent need to refocus the attention of the computer buying public in Nigeria to understand that both local brands compete favourably against their foreign counterparts, “”because our greatest challenge is perception.”

Pedro called for greatest collaboration between OEMs and software makers to deliver solutions tailored to local market needs while also recommending that PC makers and telecoms operators forge closer business ties to deliver connectivity to users in the Nigerian market hungry for Internet services.

Business Manager, HP English West Africa, Emeka Onyeokoro, stated that social networking sites are unleashing new possibilities, as well as providing meaningful and fun filled impact on human lives and businesses.

Onyeokoro said that technology solutions and software applications that are created presently because of the global trends are the tools that people would tap into to further produce and drive innovative ideas in industry.

He stated that it is obvious that companies that have succeeded in gaining attention to global trends are the ones that have innovated and have moved to next level in terms of the evolution.

“Hp believes that to compete and lead in our industry, you can’t be in one segment as a hobby, you can’t be a point player over the long run. You need to compete in every piece of infrastructure. If you’re not in all, you lose leverage across the chain”, said Onyeokoro.

He said that as the largest technology company in the world, HP is committed to providing innovative product design for personal experiences, secure collaboration and improved productivity.

CEO, Omatek Computers, Florence Seriki, reckons that the road ahead is exciting for Nigerian PC buyers due to growing market pressure to continue to innovate.

Seriki, represented at the Summit by GM, Marketing, Omatek Group, Biyi Fashoyin said that the PC company started 23 years ago has today spread its operational tentacles across seven countries of the world.

Lagos. February 23, 2010. Kano State said today that its pacesetting ICT Park will be launched in May this year to complement the vision of using technology to enhance economic development by the state government.

Commissioner for Science and Technology, Kano State, Bshir Galadanchi at the Summit

Commissioner for Science & Technology, Kano State, Bashir Galadanci made the announcement at TECHNOLOGY TIMES Outlook 2010 where he shared the state’s government’s ambitious plan to galvanise ICT growth with the creation of the Kano ICT Park.

Galadanci said that the new business opportunities in the ICT sector can be used to restore Kano’s economic prosperity, while adding that the development of ICT parks is the fastest way of promoting ICT as an economic sector.

According to him, “ICT is one of the most critical factors in the rapidly evolving knowledge economy. Kano has been an economic nerve centre not only for Nigeria but for the entire West African sub region but has been experiencing a downturn in commercial and industrial activities. The new business opportunities in the ICT sector can be used to restore Kano’s economic prosperity. The establishment of the Kano ICT Park will go a long way in achieving this vision”.

The Kano ICT Park promoted by Kano State government along side the Digital Bar Initiative were case studies of ongoing technology initiatives underway in Nigeria that were featured at the opening day of the TECHNOLOGY TIMES Outlook 2010 Summit.

The case studies offered their promoters the opportunities to share their experiences with attendees at the annual forum where decision makers converge in February to share their roadmap of ICT development that will shape and define the Nigerian economy.

Technology is also creating a trust platform within the nation’s legal system as the Digital Bar Initiative (DBI) has made it mandatory that legal practitioners as well as the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference fees will be paid online using the DBI portal.

Chief Technology Officer, DBI, Imo Ukpong, who shared the rollout experience at the Summit said the initiative was put in place to simplify the fee-collection process and the accountability of the NBA.

Under the initiative, DBI would enable NBA run a more transparent and responsive bar where financial management issues would be made easy.

He said that lawyers will be able to share resources online and find materials for their work using the portal. DBI will also acquire rights over a wide range of books and materials on specialized practice areas and lawyers will access and download various contents from the portal.

“Privileged access will be negotiated with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and there will be computerized land registries in Nigeria, so lawyers can conduct name reservation and other activities at the CAC and land registries without leaving the comfort of their offices.”

Ukpong added that the DBI has also created a unique identity card called “Nigerian Bar Card” for all legal practitioners which they will be identified with, adding that the idea is to establish a biometric-based unique credential for lawyers in Nigeria.

He said lawyers would now network and interact effectively using the DBI portal, as there would be facilities for peer-to-peer exchange of content and communication at no cost.

According to him, DBI will soon launch a technology acquisition scheme through which all lawyers will be able to acquire laptops, computers and Internet access at reduced cost and the financing options to ease the acquisition will be provided by the banks in the country.

“Lawyers can get enrolled for the Bar Card process during major NBA conferences at the various Chams city offices around the country, designated courts and Corporate Affairs Commission”, said Ukpong.

He said the card will only be issued to any lawyer after a background check and investigation had been conducted by NBA; Call to Bar Certificate has been sighted, scanned and verified and enrolment number verified at the Supreme Court.

“Apart from curing the perennial fake lawyer syndrome, the initiative is to create a digital credential for our lawyers that set them apart from others”, he told the Summit.

Lagos. February 23, 2010. TECHNOLOGY TIMES Outlook 2010 Business Summit opened today in Lagos with experts across the nation’s ICT ecosystem sharing a common optimism that growing opportunities lie ahead for Nigeria to use technology to drive her economic development aspirations.

President, Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Emmanuel Ekuwem; Senior Manager, Regulatory Affairs, MTN Nigeria, Oyeronke Oyetunde; Founder, Technology Times, Shina Badaru and Chairman, eShekels, Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu at the official opening of TECHNOLOGY TIMES Outlook 2010 Summit today in Lagos

The three-day summit organised by TECH360, the ICT conferences and events subsidiary of TECHNOLOGY TIMES also featured a live webcast of the event to the Internet community.

Experts at TECHNOLOGY TIMES Outlook 2010 Summit holding with the theme “See… very far ahead” kicked off today on a serious note of optimism with stakeholders emphasizing the urgent need for Nigeria to develop local content in anticipation of a boom in broadband.

MTN Nigeria also restated the call for policy measure to declare telecoms networks as critical national infrastructure that needs to be safeguarded to enable the growing dividends of the booming mobile telephony industry complement economic development in Nigeria.Senior Manager, Regulatory Affairs, MTN Nigeria, Oyeronke Oyetunde; Chairman, eShekels, Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu; Commissioner for Science and Technology, Kano State, Bshir Galadanchi; former ICT Adviser to the National Security Adviser, Abdulhakeem Ajijola; Managing Partner, Technology Advisors, Basil Udotai, President, Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Emmanuel Ekuwem, among other professionals from the ICT and allied sectors.

Chairman, eShekels, Chineye Mba-Uzoukwu, in his keynote address at the summit said that the need to develop local content now is unarguably very paramount in the ICT sector if Nigeria must keep abreast with other global economies.

He told attendees featuring decision makers from various segments of the Nigerian economy that, “our ability to use technology to personalise the value that we can get out of our systems is actually the key to 2010.”

Underscoring the need to evolve produce a knowledge economy, he said that, “we live in a country where 80% of workers are not manufacturing anything but rather consuming.”

Looking ahead, he envisions that in 2010, “if there can be any driver that would push the nation forward irreversibly, irrevocably and even reluctantly, it is to take advantage of the high penetration level coming soon.”

The eShekels chairman identified key ICT trends to watch including the evolving paradigm where computing will become a utility; there will be massive need to bring down the cloud in Nigeria to develop the local content, and domestic consumption.

He also identified that pipelines are built for content, so there is need to generate the content that would be uploaded. Education is changing online, where education will to be more of a virtual class. Policy will change dramatically as the use of ICT grows. Security now needs to being safe guarded.

Senior Manager, Regulatory Affairs, MTN Nigeria, Oyeronke Oyetunde, also told the Summit that there is need for the government and the regulatory body to expedite action on provision of utilities like power in other to extend the dividends of telephony and connect the masses in remote and rural areas of the country.

Market watchers reckon that with over 75 million active phone lines connected in the telecoms market at the end of 2010, according to official statistics, opportunities exist to deepen mobile broadband in the year and beyond with expected go-live of undersea cables like Glo-1 and Main One promoted by Nigeria’s second national operator, Globacom and privately-owned, Mainstreet Technologies respectively.

For Nigeria to get the benefits of the next growth key regulatory measures are vital including the urgent need to review the National Telecommunications Policy (NTP), the nation’s policy direction that was unveiled in 2000.

More than a decade, Oyetunde underscored the need to review the NTP to align it with the evolving paradigm in the telecoms market and use it as a platform to drive the next phase of the nation’s telecoms development aspirations.