CyberschuulNews.com

Editions 201 - 230

CYBERSCHUULNEWS 230

RACE FOR 3G HOTS UP!

Nigeria's CDMA frontliner, Starcomms was first on the block with its EV-DO enhanced data platform, promising broadband speeds via PC cards for corporate executives.
Then came the surprise announcement from Celtel[ex-VMobile] that it was test-running UMTS in 3 cities.
Less than a week later, GloMobile announced, too, that its 3G network - built by Alcatel - was ready and had been tested. According to GloMobile's spokesman, only the nod from the regulatory body was now needed.
The promise of 3G on mobile networks is the awesome potential it has of helping to bridge the digital divide. Every Nigerian with a mobile phone has in his hands direct access to the internet and may harness it in a variety of ways, including: via modem connection with PC, via a smartphone/pocket PC, or directly on a regular handheld phone.
Whichever way it is examined, the race (or craze) for 3G can only bring good things.

UNIVERSAL ACCESS SCHEME COMMENCES IN FULL STREAM

One of the unique creations of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 is the establishment of the Universal Service Provision Fund. The Act empowers the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, to promote the widespread availability and usage of network and applications services throughout Nigeria by encouraging the installation of network facilities and the provision for network and applications services to institutions and in unserved, underserved areas or for underserved groups within the community. And the emphases are on "institutions”, “unserved”, “underserved areas” and “underserved groups within a community”.

Government gave teeth to this recently when it established a governing Council for the Fund. A tested NCC Executive, Lolia Emakpore, was appointed Executive Director. With the development, bringing true telecommunications into rural and underserved locations of the country is getting a meaning. The Nigerian Communications Commission had for some time commenced variants of schemes which would catalyze into turning access up in rural Nigeria especially by initiatives such as Wire Nigeria, WiN; States Accelerated Broadband Initiative, SABI; and the likes. The new scheme may be miles ahead of a Chinese inspired initiative christened Rural Telephony Project which may at best be an ingenious way of dumping Chinese switches in unfortunate hamlets where their fate is predictable.

Rural telecomm access has different appeals to different interest groups. Technology vendors are quick at arranging smart financing schemes which usually end up piling up debts for future generation. Ask NITEL. Ask PTF. For the mobiles, they would want everybody to believe they could harness it under their on-going schemes. The PTO’s would argue for subsidies to go into rural communities while various technocrats want to be left alone to manage whatever resources is available. The Challenge has fallen on the newly established UNIVERSAL SERVICE PROVISION FUND whose activities will certainly be under close watch.

VODACOM COMING AGAIN?

‘Monkey no fine, but him mama like am’ is a popular Nigerian saying which captures the love life of Vodacom and Nigeria. The South African top rated mobile provider has never been short of reasons for dumping the Nigerian telecom pie which it has been eyeing but fights shy of eating. Several deals with VMobile [ex-Vodacom Nigeria, ex-Econet Wireless Nigeria] ended up in withdrawals for which reasons were at best zig-zag. Newspapers are saying that the South African giant is now on its way to Globacom [ they may have to meet in UK for now] to talk deals. ‘This vodacom sef’.

8 NOW GET UNIFIED LICENSES

A start up company, Danjay Telecom Ltd., has picked the eighth card on the unified licenses list. Unified licensing was introduced by Nigeria’s telecommunications regulator, NCC, on expiration of 5 years mobile exclusivity for 4 pioneer licensees in February 2006 and it enables operators a choice to spread their services nationwide and on the basis of converged technologies.
Others who have obtained unified Licenses include: Bourdex Telecoms Ltd, Intercellular Ltd, MTN, Multi-Links Telecoms Ltd, Prest Cable & Satellite TV Systems, Starcomms Ltd and VGC Communications Ltd.

GLO : BIG HEAD, BIG HEADACHE

'Parliamentarians' at the recent Telecom Consumer Parliament in Abuja descended heavily on Glo for poor services and improper attention to customer complaints. The first six complaints of the session held down on the service provider while it shared blame with other service providers from the 3 immediately following. In particular the reluctance of Glo to block stolen cards did not go down well with the parliament in session. Its like Abuja folks are angry with GLO which says it has connected 9 million lines to its network at the last count..

GBENGA ADEBAYO WRITES A BOOK ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN NIGERIA

Gbenga Adebayo, unarguably one of the most focused Nigerian telecommunications engineers of his generation, has authored a document in standard book form and on ‘Telecommunications in Nigeria’.
The book provides an overview of the development of Nigeria’s telecommunications industry, since deregulation, and the challenges associated with service provision and maintenance of network infrastructures.
Engr Adebayo is at the moment General Manager of VGC Communications Ltd, a rapidly growing fixed-wired service provider which rose from community service provision to a regional licensee and recently was issued a Unified License for nationwide coverage.
Gbenga, before signing on at VGC as Technical Manager in 2000, had stints with Siemens AG, 2-way Communications and OGBC/TV each of where he made acclaimed marks.
He has, on several occasions, served as motivator-speaker for young trainees of telecommunication courses at THE EXECUTIVE CYBERSCHUUL, Lagos.

The book is due for launch in October 2006 but is already available on order. For more information www.telecominnigeria.com

JOHN AWE MOVES

XLR8’s magnetic pull for good writers has caught another one. John Awe who anchored telecommunications and InfoTech for Tribune Newspapers for several years went over to XLR8 while cyberschuulnews was on forced leave. Calixthus Okoruwa, CEO of XLR8, himself a fine copy, must have something cooking at Oregun.

CELTEL TAKES OVER VMOBILE

Wasiu Adebayo Ligali, a tested Accountant and Manager has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Celtel Network Systems [formerly VMobile]. He came from Dangote Pasta Plc where he was CEO. Boye Olusanya and Chuma Okoye were also signed on as Deputy CEO and Chief Commercial Officer respectively.
Celtel announced on September 2, 2006 that its take over of VMobile is smooth and complete.

CDMA2000 THREE YEARS AHEAD OF W-CDMA, SAYS CDG
by
Iain Morris

The next revision of CDMA2000 will further extend its lead over competing WCDMA, according to the CDMA Development Group (CDG) – a lobby group for the technology.

According to James Person, the chief operating officer of CDG, the ‘Revision A’ to CDMA2000 EVDO will give users speeds of up to 3.1 Mbps to the terminal and 1.8 Mbps on the uplink and will be commercially available later this year.

“The [WCDMA] equivalent is HSUPA and I don’t think we’re going to see large-scale deployment of that for another two years. So we’re maintaining our lead,” says Person. “Over the next three to five years I think our advantages will continue.”

Initial deployments of HSUPA are expected to boost the uplink capability of HSDPA to 1.5 Mbps.

Person believes that the other advantages CDMA2000 has over WCDMA are so widely recognised that talk of the ‘smooth evolution path’ has almost become a cliché. While migration from GSM to UMTS is less than clear-cut, operators of CDMA networks can upgrade to CDMA2000 variants with relative ease, and have been doing so for the past six years.

He thinks the greatest challenge in responding to the WCDMA threat is encouraging ‘technology neutrality’ in regions like Western Europe that have not supported CDMA2000 at the regulatory level. “In developing countries like Indonesia, India and China, regulators have said that carriers can use whatever technology is available to them, and we support that. Where there’s both GSM and CDMA, we are able to compete.”

It has already done so very successfully in Japan, says Person, where there are no such regulatory barriers and mobile operator KDDI is continuing to attract large numbers of new subscribers to its CDMA2000 network despite having a much smaller share of the overall mobile market than its WCDMA rival NTT DoCoMo.

On the subject of future drivers of growth, Person is as dismissive of video telephony as many in the analyst community. He believes VoIP could be the sought-after killer application. “From the carrier’s perspective, there are some big advantages because Revision A [to EVDO] will support VoIP with QoS and give a carrier additional capacity.” And if trends in advanced markets like Japan and Korea can be trusted, he says, then other services that might fuel take-up include music and video downloads.

Interest in CDMA technology is also booming in developing markets, argues Person, where greenfield operators are using it as an option for WLL (Wireless Local Loop). “It has great capacity and the ranges in 450 MHz and 800 MHz spectrum are much greater,” he says. While ten years ago the network costs were too high and GDP too low for deployment to make economic sense, today those costs have fallen by around 90 percent – in some cases – and GDP has risen to such an extent that commercial rollout is feasible.

“There’s an extension of this in Eastern and Central Europe too,” says Person. “Some of the old NMT-450 operators are turning over that frequency and using it for CDMA.”

Rivalry between the CDMA and GSM technologies has intensified of late, with both the CDG and the GSM Association (GSMA), which defends GSM technology, claiming short- and long-term victories. While CDMA2000 has something of a headstart, with 275 million subscribers compared to W- CDMA’s 75 million, many analysts believe the future looks brighter for WCDMA.

“There are more than 2 billion GSM users [worldwide] on an evolutionary path to WCDMA,” says Mark Neild, a principal consultant with PA Consulting. “That’s going to bring huge equipment and handset economies in the next few years.”
Source www.telecommagazine.com




CYBERSCHUULNEWS 229

MTS GETS ‘NEW’ CEO

It is a fact that Demola Eleso is now back to MTS as the Chief Executive Officer. Eleso, a telecom engineer, actually joined MTS in October 2005 but had to technically resign to suit the nerves of MTN guys with whom he fell out after a few years stint. A few weeks after signing on at MTS in 2005, he took the troubled firm straight up the ladder on performance rating as clear CDMA 1X signals of the firm sprang up in Ibadan, Abeokuta, and Abuja in quick succession. The folks at Churchgate woke up to dust up the contract books and Demola had to duck. MTN had threatened court action claiming that Demola’is appointment with MTS violated a restraint of trade clause in his employment contract agreement with it. Smart guys dealing with themselves, eh? By international standards, Nigeria has enjoyed a virtually litigation-free industry where legal antagonism had not dominated the market. Those who live by the culture in other lands even had to back down on several of litigations which really would have slowed down Nigeria’s telecom growth. But it appears raw patience has run out and it is now likely to show true colour. Of course things are also stabilizing and a vigilant regulator is still on the driver’s sit. An equally vibrant media is watching. And talk of Nigerians themselves!! If a people can chase Ibb away, they can chase anybody away.

ADENUGA FLEES NIGERIA, NOW IN LONDON
Globacom’s sole owner, Mike Adenuga is reported to have emigrated to the United Kingdom where he has legitimate residence. Although his travel papers were said to have been seized by Nigerian crime control authorities, he sneaked into Ghana and eventually surfaced in the UK. Chances are that Globacom’s strategic servers have also shifted technical location out of Nigeria. Industry analysts are worried stiff that the anticorruption crusade in Nigeria may not be hitting the best chord in Adenuga’s case since, head or tail, it is a show of high handedness to treat a person of his calibre as a common criminal. Everybody might just be one in the eyes of the world. Crime control Capone, Mr Ribadu, said everything is in order since ‘after all Adenuga has not got 4 legs’. That fellow may just be trivialising a very important issue.

When people of current power use terrorist methods and you ask questions, they tell you nobody is above the law as if they should be above it.

DIGITAL WORLD CONFERENCE 2006 IN ABUJA
The website www.digitalworldafrica.org.ng welcomes you to details of the Digital World Africa 2006 Conference which will hold in Abuja Nigeria from the 12th to 13th of September 2006. The conference will focus on key issues surrounding the use of the Information & Communications Technology tools in Education and development challenges faced by developing nations.

The conference will combine Conference Plenary, Workgroups, Exhibitions, Networking, Data Management and Media Events. Several exciting developments will be showcased, including the controversial One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project.
It is being co-hosted by the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC
For more information, visit www.digitalworldafrica.org.ng

NCC SET TO PUBLISH INTERCONNECTION REGULATIONS
The Nigerian Communications Commission has signaled intention to publish strict codes on interconnection regulations. It has also invited stakeholders to a Public Inquiry on September 21, 2006 in its Abuja office. Already on its website, www.ncc.gov.ng is a posting of the approved regulations which deal on Interconnection principles, right and obligations, interconnection procedures, obligations of Dominant Operators, and dispute resolution.

RE-BRANDING AS AGENDA
Kuwaiti’s Celtel which recently acquired Nigeria’s VMobile, said it would re-brand the company immediately. Celtel is a very visible branded business in Africa with mobile services covering 14 countries and still counting. It operates under the brand promise of ‘Making Life Better’, and has promised Nigerians that it comes to share in ‘Nigeria’s world acclaimed happiness’. Its boisterous financial base gives it the promise of a new player to watch.

CYBERSCHUUL/NSE RUN SEPTEMBER 2006 TELECOM COURSES AT UNILAG
Standard telecommunication courses of THE CYBERSCHUUL in collaboration wit THE NIGERIAN SOCIETY OF ENGINEERS, leading to the award of Proficiency Certificates under the course titles of Telecom for Non-Engineers [3 days], Basic Telecommunications Training [4 days] and Advanced Telecom Training [ 10 days] shall kick off at the University of Lagos on September 18 for four weeks. THE CYBERSCHUUL announces that registered participants have been advised by email correspondence on the exact Venue and other details of the programs. Registration is still in progress. Please see detailed advert in this publication.

IMAGINE THIS!!!
The world's oldest man has celebrated his 115th birthday and revealed why he thinks he's lasted so long. Emiliano Mercado del Toro puts his longevity down to a healthy diet and avoiding alcohol - though he did smoke for 76 years. He quit smoking when he was 90! "I never damaged my body with liquor," he said. Emiliano is confined to a wheelchair, has difficulty hearing and has been blind for four years.

He lives in the northwestern coastal town of Isabela in Puerto Rico with his niece, a sprightly 84 -year-old.

Emiliano is listed as the world's oldest man by the Guinness Book of World Records.

AND NIGERIA’S OWN, MARGARET EKPO CLOCKS 92
Certainly not the oldest Nigerian living woman but the oldest among those who fought to liberate women and therefore humanity. Mama Margaret Ekpo on her 92nd birthday last week said her longevity was as a ‘result of fighting stupid governments’

Mama, Cyberschuulnews wishes you several years more.

CYBERSCHUUL RAISES LECTURE CONTENT. REDUCES PRICE
It’s like using the internet. You do it better, neater, faster and ultimately even cheaper. 100-Standard Interview Questions and Answers in Telecommunications [150 slides] which THE CYBERSCHUUL started marketing a few months ago has now reduced its price from N5,000 to N2,000 in CD. The download version has reduced from N2000 to N1000. A new one which contains 250 slides of 200-Standard Questions and Answers in Telecommunications now goes for N5,000.00 for CD and N2000 for Download. If there is anything you had wanted to know that is not contained in the 250-Edition, name it and collect N500 discount. That’s our stamp of its richness.

Designing for PC and Handheld Accessibility
It is becoming more and more important for web developers all around the world to provide for mobile access to their websites. This is because an ever-increasing number of individuals now regularly use their mobile devices - smartphones, PDAs and Pocket PCs - to access the Web, especially when on the move.

I have been a crusader of this cause for a while now, and see the need to provide tips and guidelines for those interested in making their websites future-proof, sort of (I really do believe that mobile devices are the future). Over 20% of traffic on my business site is from handheld devices. That's a lot of potential traffic for any webmaster to ignore.

Adopt XHTML As Document Type
XHTML is the future of HTML. By writing your codes in XHTML, you not only are making your web pages future-proof, but alos automatically make them compatible with the new onslaught of mobile devices with XHTML browsers.

This means that WML (the initial standard for WAP) is on its way out and you do not necessarily have to create a separate WAP version for your site.

You may want to visit the http://www.w3.org/ site for more information.

For Layout, ditch tables; use Style Sheets instead
Most mobile devices (especially mobile phones) browsers are too small to accomodate table layouts, so forget tables and use CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) instead.

Besides for the purposes of accomodating mobile devices, using CSS for layout is now the standard practice in modern website design of any sort.

Width Specification Matters
Have you tried horizontal scrolling on a mobile phone?

Rather than use fixed width specifications e.g. 750px, use flexible/fluid width specs e.g. 100%. That way, your pages adjust themselves to the size of whatever device is used to access them.

Consider Using Media Specifications in CSS
You can specify two different style sheets for each page, one for PC displays and the other for handhelds. Doing this displays the same page differently on PC and mobiles.

The PC CSS may create a more complex layout which large screens can handle easily, while the handheld-specified CSS presents a simpler layout for mobile devices.

Design Semantically for Devices Without CSS Support
Structure your content such that it would still make sense to read through it with CSS disabled. That way, should a device that does not support CSS load your pages, they still make sense with all formatting lost.

Site interactivity: What scripting/programming language?
Websites are interactive these days, from simple submission forms to complex database functionality. The question is, What platform or language do you deploy to accomodate mobile devices?

Delving into the mobile browser scene, it is soon clear what a diverse array of browsers exist, with varying degrees of features and functionality. One thing you must avoid is to depend too much on client-side scripting.

Client side scripting depends on browsers having the particular functionality. Take javascript. That's client-side. Implementing javascript extensively on a site that's targeted at most mobile devices is like saying "twinkle, twinkle little stars; how I wonder whatb you are" - a complete waste. Where it is absolutely necessary necessary to use javascript on such sites, use it unobstructively, such that where a user's device/browser has no support for the script, the web pages are not rendered useless. Either implement a fallback procedure with some server-side script or just have that particular level of interactivity be removed when mobile browsers access that page.

A lot of stuff people used to do with javascript, for example, can now easily be done with CSS. This includes: navigational buttons, mouse-overs etc. Using CSS, since mobile devices have no mouse etc, you can simply specify the navigation menu to be displayed as text links when mobile browsers load that page. etc

Server-side applications, on the other hand, are executed on the server and the results sinply sent to visitors' browsers. The browsers are not aware of what goes on behind the scene.

Server-side scripting is ideal when you want your site to have full functionality across a wide range of browsers. PHP is a particularly excellent and versatile server-side language. With PHP, you can implement solutions for web, WAP, and other browser platforms (yes; there are others, though in a strong minority).

Writing for Mobile
Writing for the web is not the same as writing for more traditional media. This is even more important to note when writing for a site that targets both PC and handheld users.
This article was written by Yomi Adegboye, a clergyman, web and mobility consultant, and founder of DomainStandard Networks. Yomi is based in Lagos, Nigeria.

Human Interest
TECHNOLOGY THAT LOWERS VALUES
One of the great assets of recent technologies is SMS, also called Text Messaging. It works wonders and is fast changing values. Regrettably not upwards but downwards. A recent discussion group at the CYBERSCHUUL Lagos examined the various applications of text messaging and one guy said. ‘I have been saved the trouble of attending to several marriage invitations these days. You know people send text messages to me to invite me to their wedding. The sensible ones follow it with standard respectable IV cards. But those ones constitute only 27%. Others just think it is enough for me to be invited so rudely via a text message. What the hell is going on these days gentlemen? What’s happening to our values?’


CYBERSCHUULNEWS 228
NCC APPROVES NEW INTERCONNECTION RATE
The Nigerian Communications Commission has published a new Interconnection Rate to take effect from September 2006

The Commission rules that:
a) The interconnection rate for Fixed Call Termination using Near-end Handover shall be N10.80 (ten naira eighty kobo);
b) The interconnection rate for Fixed Call Termination using Far-end Handover shall be N9.10 (nine naira ten kobo)
c) The interconnection rate for Mobile Call Termination shall be N11.40 (Eleven naira forty kobo)
d) The interconnection rate for termination in Nigeria of an international incoming call is the interconnection rate determined for Fixed Call Termination using Near-end Handover, Fixed Call Termination using Far-end Handover or Mobile Call Termination as applicable.

On its website, the Commission says the interconnection rates determined in the paragraph above shall be applied by and payable (including by way of internal transfer pricing) to all licensees who have been allocated numbers by the Commission.
In this Determination, unless the context requires otherwise the following expressions shall have the meanings set out below:

“Far-end Handover” Where a call intended for Fixed Call Termination is delivered to the terminating operator at a point of interconnection designated by that operator as serving the number range including the called number at the interconnection rate for far-end Handover.

“Fixed Call Termination” Termination by the receiving operator of a call intended for a number within a range ascribed to fixed services in the national numbering plan and allocated to the receiving operator which call has been delivered to that operator by an
interconnected operator (which operator may be the originating operator or another operator, including an operator providing transit of the call through its telecommunications network) at a point of interconnection and routed by the terminating operator through its telecommunications network.

“Mobile Call Termination” Termination by the receiving operator of a call intended for a number within a range ascribed to mobile services in the national numbering plan and allocated to the receiving operator which call has been delivered to that
operator by an interconnected operator (which may be the originating operator
or another operator, including an operator providing transit of the call through its telecommunications network) at a point of interconnection and routed by the terminating operator through its telecommunications network.

This Determination shall take effect from 22nd September, 2006 and remain valid and binding on Licensees for the services specified in paragraphs 1(a) to (d) of this Section, until further reviewed by the Commission.

The chronology of events leading to this determination is worth recalling.

On 2 December 2003, the Commission published the Interconnection Rate Determination (the “2003 Determination”), which took effect from the 1 April, 2004. It was to remain valid and binding on licensed operators and the rates were to remain applicable for a minimum of eighteen (18) months.

The 2003 Determination stated that the Commission would commence the process of conducting another in-depth study of cost based interconnection rates to take effect on the expiry of the eighteen (18) month period. Given the complexities of commissioning and undertaking such a study and the need to consult affected parties, a study could not, in the opinion of the Commission be commissioned, concluded and consulted upon so that any determination of rates could take effect on the expiry of the eighteen month period. On that basis, the Commission consulted on the extension of and amendment to the 2003 Determination pending the completion of the in-depth study.

The Commission wrote to the operators on October 7, 2005 setting out a number of options, including that the network operators negotiate between themselves on agreeable rates, with the result of such negotiation to be communicated to the Commission within three (3) months. The majority of the operators chose this option but considered that the period of three months was too long.

The Commission was notified by the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators (“ALTON”) in a letter dated 25, October 2005, that operators could not reach agreement. The Commission was also informed during the CEO Forum of the 2005 Telecom Summit held on 7 November 2005 that agreement was unlikely. On 16 November 2005, the Commission was informed in a letter from the GSM Consultative Forum that the operators had not reached agreement. The Commission held a mediatory meeting on 8 December 2005 in order to assist the operators in their negotiations. During this meeting, a number of issues were raised, which are set out in the Consultation Paper. At the end of the meeting, the Commission again requested that the operators attempt to secure agreement.
On the basis of letters subsequently received by the Commission from ALTON and other operators, it was clear that the operators were unable to reach an agreement and that they were unlikely to do so in the near future.

By this stage, the three (3) month period given to operators on 7 October 2005 had expired.
The Commission meanwhile had retained the firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers to undertake an in depth cost study of the interconnection rates.
For more details www.ncc.gov.ng

CHINA MAY BAN GOOGLE
It is no longer news that China takes exception to the publication of materials which it considers as politically offensive on the web. All along, Internet users in China have complained of problems accessing google.com and that is because the government is interfering. Web users across China have now reported problems accessing google.com, with complaints ranging from intermittent access failure to sustained blockage and people are bothered about how they would do business on the Internet if the censoring continues.

What of Chinese site google.cn ? Only 1.5% of Chinese people are interested in that. They would rather want google.com, the 'real thing'



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BILL GATES TO STEP BACK IN 2008
Microsoft’s Chairman, Mr. Bill Gates, said last Thursday that he plans to step back from handling daily responsibilities by July 2008. He will however remain chairman of the world's largest Software firm. Gates has named Ray Ozzie to take his place as chief software architect, while Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, will continue to run the company. Craig Mundie, another chief technical officer, will oversee Microsoft's strategy and research.

In recent time, Microsoft’s rivals, Google and Yahoo in particular, have been offering internet based software as opposed to Microsoft’s traditional initiative of sitting software inside desktops and laptops and this may mean Microsoft needs some refocusing to meet the hot challenges.

CYBERSCHUULNEWS LAUNCHES ANOTHER TRAINING GUIDE
THE EXECUTIVE CYBERSCHUUL, Lagos has introduced another training support : Standard Interview Questions and Answers in telecommunications. CYBERSCHUUL’s Chairman, Mr Titi Omo-Ettu said at the weekend that speed is required to put more knowledge into the industry for Nigeria to migrate into the developmental level of the improved telecom services in Nigeria. The Standard Q & A comes in two versions: The 100 version and the 250 version. He said the materials which are available in CD and direct Internet Download is designed to assist the person who desires to appraise himself/herself with current and relevant issues of industry, technology and telecom management or in his/her bid to seek employment in the telecommunications sector.

It is compiled by a team of specialists who have worked in the sector, taught telecommunication to practitioners, consulted for telecommunication companies and handled employment matters at corporate levels of several start-up and established companies. In a way, it is meant to address observed deficiencies of local experts, fresh graduates and other professionals who intend to build a career in or to crossover to the telecommunications profession.



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CDMA: THE PTO’S TO WATCH.
Four PTO’s [ Starcomms, Multilinks, Intercellular and Prestel] which met NCC’s criteria for Universal License all appear to be warming up to spread cost friendly fixed and mobile services across the country. Added to the list is mtsfirst which in recent time has been showing tremendous promise in aggressively implementing a mandate of being a natural unified licensee having, since 2003, been given a basket of four strategic licenses, namely: long distance communications carrier services, national wireless telephony services, international data access gateway and provision of Internet services.

To qualify for a Unified License, NCC's criteria require that an applicant provider must
• have an existing and operating network infrastructure
• have a customer base of at least 10,000 connected subscribers or justifiable evidence of financial capability for substantial network rollout
• be up-to-date on submission of annual audited accounts
• be up-to-date on payment of company tax
• be up-to-date with equipment type approval
• be up-to-date in settlement of interconnection obligations

Analysts say that quality and cost of service may see considerable improvement in the foreseeable future.

WIRELESS CITY DEBUTS IN THE UK
Milton Keynes hopes to be the first UK city to offer free wireless internet
access throughout its city centre.

The service, which will go live on 1 August, will initially cover the area
from Milton Keynes Central Station up to Midsummer Place in the retail
district, with the entire city centre going live within three to six months.

The service is being launched by wireless communications company Briteyellow
in partnership with Invest Milton Keynes, using multi-channel wireless mesh
technology.

The company said that wireless nodes will be installed in existing fixtures
such as road signs and lampposts to extend the signal coverage.

Grant Seeley, director of investment at Milton Keynes Partnership, said in a
statement the initiative - dubbed the 21st century wireless Milton Keynes
project - has been in development for a year and a half. He claims it will be
"the largest continuous area" to offer free wi-fi access in the UK.

Seeley said the network can be used securely and will be a particular
advantage to businesses located in the city.

The service will be funded by commercial sponsors.
[The above story written by Steve Ranger was taken from www.silicon.com ]

NITEL AT QUARTER TO GO?
NITEL’s 11,000 workers who found themselves servicing less than 300,000 fixed lines and a national transmission network were reported to have engaged in nationwide lockout and strike and it appears they would not listen to any appeal, not even from the highly respected Minister of Communications, Chief Cornelius Adebayo. For four months, and still counting, the workers received no pay just as pensioners who have never missed pay day in the history of the company have so far not been paid for two months. Strangely, the name of government auctioneer, Bureau for Public Enterprises, BPE which in seven years actually sent the firm to its sure death did not feature in all the literature which listed the workers’ grouse.

Apparently to buy time, President Obasanjo has instituted a study team under Finance Minister, ex-World Bank technocrat Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The terms of the study reads like working on the arithmetic of what it would cost to seal the ailing First National Operator. Chances are the firm, now in dire strait gets locked up before year end which is the date BPE told Nigerians its ownership would transform into private hands.




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MULTIPLE TAXATION:
NCC MOUNTS APPEAL TO GOVERNMENTS
The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, may soon commence nationwide consultation with all tiers of Government on the negative implication of multiple taxation on telecom service providers. In recent time, some state governments, Lagos and Federal Capital City in particular have rolled out legislations which seek to impose taxes on telecom service providers under the cover of environmental protection or metropolitan beautification.

MTS UP IN ABUJA
MTS Firstwireless has added Abuja to the list of locations where it has rolled out services. In quick succession, the company commissioned its networks in Abeokuta, Ibadan, and now Abuja. If carrying two telephone sets is not a Nigerian malaise, it may no longer be fashionable to do so going by the way that provider is pursuing its objective of rolling out CDMA phones in 24 cities by end of 2006.

NIGERIA CELEBRATES INFORMATION SOCIETY DAY
For two days during last week, the Ministry of Communications rolled out the drums in Abuja with technical discussion which focused on Cyber-Security, the Millennium Development Goals, Financing, Public-Private Partnership and Capacity Building.

This is in response to the call by the United Nations General Assembly which adopted Resolution A/RES/60/252 proclaiming 17 May as annual World Information Society Day. The World Summit on the Information Society had proposed that 17 May, which marks the inception of ITU in 1865, should be declared as World Information Society Day to help raise awareness, on an annual basis, on the enormous possibilities that ICTs can bring to all economies and societies and explore ways to bridge the digital divide. A resolution to this effect was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 27 March 2006.

ITU HONOURS PRESIDENT WADE & PROF. YUNUS
The President of Senegal, Mr Abdoulaye Wade, and Professor Muhammad Yunus, Managing Director of Grameen Bank, Bangladesh, were honoured with the 2006 ITU World Information Society Award at a ceremony held in Geneva on May 17, 2006 to mark the celebration of the first World Information Society Day.
President Wade is one Head of a government whose commitment to ICT is beyond the usual rhetoric of typical politicians.
Professor Yunus pioneered microcredit for the rural poor and empowered a new class of women entrepreneur by providing mobile payphone service in the remote areas of Bangladesh.

At the ceremony, Mr Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary-General of ITU and Secretary-General of the World Summit on the Information Society said that the ITU World Information Society Award pays tribute to those who have made a significant contribution towards building and strengthening the Information Society. "It is to accord the highest recognition to those who have used their creativity and resources to harness the enormous potential of ICTs, so that millions of people can achieve their development goals,...Today we have the honour of the presence of two living legends, whose lifelong mission has been to give a voice to the deprived."

INTELSAT TO LAUNCH TM-9 SATELLITE IN 2007
Intelsat says it has decided to launch its Intelsat AmericasTM-9 (IA-9) satellite in the fourth quarter of 2007. The decision will allow Intelsat to serve customer demand for high-powered Ku-band capacity for data networking, video and other applications.
Intelsat has signed a firm launch contract with Sea Launch to launch the IA-9 spacecraft by the fourth quarter of 2007. This mission will be Sea Launch's second with Intelsat; the IA-8 mission was successfully completed in June 2005.



CYBERSCHUULNEWS 224
FOR NIGERIA, 3G IS
The Nigerian Communications Commission told stakeholders last week it was ready to license services in the 3G spectrum and went on to explain a rational for possible recourse to auctioning since, as things stand, not more than 3 operators can benefit from available spectrum. It also called for ideas and suggestions on a few technical issues which made auctioning compelling.

The Commission spoke through a presentation by its Executive Commissioner for Engineering and Standards, Engr. Stephen Bello who argued that the fact that there is no enough spectrum to go round all the 20 major and medium size operators automatically means that a form of competitive licensing is inevitable.

WHO CAME TO NIGERIA?
IT WAS HU!!
Chinese President, Hu Jintao, came to Nigeria during the week. Nice visit, good lessons. A fast diplomatic move it must have been since the wound which highest level disagreement may inflict on Chinese interest in Nigeria may be too severe to contemplate. For telecommunications, the Chinese have made a good showing in the Nigerian market in recent time especially in the private sector where more than a dozen of PTO’s patronize its CDMA and there has been an inroad into holding the Nigerian government down to some patronage here and there.

It is open secret that the Chinese made final ride into Nigeria on the back of Vice-President Atiku but have been smart enough to reassure Government that they are dealing with the government of the day.

It took the quarrel of the two highest citizens to reach un-amenable level for government key agents to realize that the Chinese textiles which they traded freely at the ‘Chinese markets’ were indeed contrabands. Of course the Chinese had earlier ensured it was the First Lady, of blessed memory, whose name remained on marble at the entrance of the outfits. Ditto for the rural telephony project which attack dogs of government only recently started combing the portion of the deal which were unfair to Nigeria.

China protects its industries and industrialists and that partly explains its success everywhere. When Chinese Companies made the Ministry of Communications to sign the so-called rural telephony deal, it was dressed as if Nigeria was dealing with China’s government when infact it was dealing with two Chinese companies. Now that Third Term may put spanner in the works, the fast guy came calling even roping the entire National Assembly into the game.

With all these huge lessons, Nigerian businessmen must be looking forward to enjoying similar patronage of their government in their international endeavour. That is what development is all about rather than going round the world settling other peoples' quarrels while at home destructive one is playing out.

BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE:KEY THEME AT NEPAD COUNCIL CONFERENCE
Bridging the digital divide is the key to closing economic gaps between ethnic communities, especially in Africa.

This will be one of the main themes to be discussed at Africa’s largest Information and Communication Technology (ICT) conference to be hosted by the NEPAD Council at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, from 17 to 21 May.

One of the leading voices in the United States on the subject of equity and information and communication technology, Tyrone D. Taborn, chairman of the American Career Communications Group, will lead discussions on the topic.

The “digital divide" refers to the difference in computer and technology skills that tends to exist between people of different racial backgrounds. The issue is of major significant because studies suggest that more than 60 percent af future jobs will require computer skills and network usage. Taborn also warns that people with computer skills will earn more than 40 percent more than those without it.

According to a report issued by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the U.S. Department of Commerce, computer use by blacks lags behind that of non-Hispanic whites by more than 14 percent while Internet use by blacks trails that of non-Hispanic whites by nearly 20 percent. This divide is even larger in Africa.

Finding Solutions to this trend and boosting global public awareness of the “digital divide” has become a crusade by Taborn. "We've generated awareness and I'm tremendously proud of that. However, our task is nowhere near complete. We've got to inspire a movement,” says Taborn, who will address policy makers, financiers, industry leaders, scientists, engineers and educators from Africa and the rest of the world at the conference.

As one of the most important continental events on African soil the NEPAD Council is proud to organise ICT Africa 2006 in collaboration with the Kenyan Government, NEPAD Secretariat in Kenya and the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).

ICT Africa will also include several tutorials to address information and communications issues for the entire African continent.

NEPAD Council is an organisation of professionals whose mission is to support the implementation of NEPAD objectives. NEPAD Council is recognised and endorsed by the NEPAD Secretariat and the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee and is registered as a non-profit organisation in New York State, USA, and headquartered in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. NEPAD Council is also a member of the NEPAD civil society organisations (CSO).
[The above text is a Media release by NEPAD Council]



CYBERSCHUULNEWS 223
YOUTHS CALLING
What Are YOU Doing this 2006 Workers' Day?
Unemployed? Unhappy with Your Job? Not Sure About Career Growth?

If any (or all) of those three describe what you are experiencing at the moment, then there's still one more question. Otherwise, you might as well stop reading this... [and accept our apologies in that case]. And the question is: are you ready for change? Will you be willing to trade your present position for a 180-degree turnaround to a better life? We could have suggested 360 degrees (as is often said) but this is not some form of motivational cliche! And by the way, if you turn around 360 degrees, you will be back to where you were before you started in the first place. So, what is your response to the question? If your answer is YES! and you are ready for the journey (yes, its a journey that begins on a special day) then you will be spending your Workers' Day in a different way this year...

How would you like to be gainfully engaged in less than 7 days? No kidding, this is real, your life can be better than it is today! The idea... Attend a FREE seminar and change your fate and fortune forever! Two young men will lift the lid on what has been working for them, so others can learn and start or re-energise for the journey. How will this work? More information will be provided shortly (from April 25)... Watch Out! Where? www.deoluakinyemi.com www.gbengasesan.com and Nigerian dailies... And one more thing, if you won't be in Nigeria on that day, or this does not apply to you, please forward to someone who will remain eternally grateful!

ELECTION
ATCON ELECTS EKUWEM AS PRESIDENT
The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, ATCON elected Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem as National President at its Annual General meeting last Friday. Dr Ekuwem, CEO of Teledom International Ltd is a technology provider and ICT consultant of repute.




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THE WORLD RECOMMENDS
INTERVENTION FOR RURAL ACCESS
Going by what emerged from the recent international conference on “Connecting Rural Communities 2006” organised by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation and hosted by the Department of Telecommunications of India and BSNL, consensus seems to have been reached so far on regulatory intervention as a necessary requirement to effectively promote rural ICT projects worldwide, especially in the form of subsidies to address the lack of infrastructure and power supply.

MTC STAKES $1.05BILLION IN VMOBILE
Kuwaiti’s telecom giant, MTC whose African subsidiary is Celtel International has agreed to acquire 65% of Nigeria's V-Mobile for US$1.05billion. That is if MTC goes ahead to pay the deal fee within 35 days from April 11 when the deal was struck in the UK. Chances are that it does. Celtel, originally Dutch, does a lot of telecom business in Africa. Its attempt to invest in Nigeria in its early days in 1998 when it was MSI Cellular Investments ran into murky waters and the negotiators left Nigeria only to return in 2001 when they made an unsuccessful bid at the GSM Auction. Its name changed to Celtel International in January 2004 and it was acquired for a hefty $3.4billion by MTC in March 2005.

MTC via Celtel has been doing quite a number of buy-in in recent time one of which is the increase in its stake in Mobitel of Sudan from the 39% to 100%.

NEW TECHNOLOGIES
WIMAX : ONCE PROMISED, NOW DELIVERED
The highly anticipated WiMAX technology has become a reality now, with already over 150 service providers around the world starting to build networks based on fully standard WiMAX equipment. WiMAX is creating a new competitive force in mature telecoms markets and is accelerating broadband availability in underserved areas. By mid 2006 we expect to see the first products and trials based on the second mobile WiMAX standard, 802.16e, which has even greater disruptive potential.

Chances are that VoIP might have been a child’s play.

3G SETS MOBILE OPERATORS TALKING
A few mobile operators in Africa have been trading words on what their networks will be capable of doing in the near future especially regarding mobile broadband delivery. The MTN group, for example, says within 24 months it will deliver 14 MBps downlink speed. Vodacom on the other hand has since announced the arrival its high-speed downlink packet access, HSDPA, at 1.8Mbps, although a few of those who used it said it is not entirely that fast.

Although they all agree that compliant handsets and backbone transmission costs could be limiting factors, they still believe a better strategy is to talk big and back their boasts up with efforts in the laboratory rather than being conservative in their public posturing.

The Enhanced Data over GSM Evolution, EDGE, is an extension of the current GPRS technology. Universal Mobile Telecom System, UMTS, and its upgrade HSDPA are new generation technologies that will lead to higher download speeds.

EXECUTIVE MOVEMENT
MUOKA LEAVES MTS
Mr. Reuben Muoka, the fellow who managed the frail to fame image of MTS’ second coming in Nigeria has resigned his Deputy General Manager and Head of PR appointment to pursue a career in media and public relations consulting in telecommunications and information technology.

Reuben, formerly Deputy Communications Editor of Vanguard, signed up at MTS First wireless in 2001 at a time when emerging GSM operators had mounted a campaign to incite government to withdraw the mobile license that was revalidated for MTS at the time. At re-launch of corporate MTS into the industry in August 2004, public opinion of the two-time PTO’s products rose sharply and, arguably, most sought after especially as it had made impressive media showing of CDMA 2000 1X which it deployed. The glorious days were however short-lived as boardroom squabbles put a spanner in the works. Since then the Company had moved from one restructuring to the other till date eating up virtually all pioneer staffers but it bounced back and has been on a rapid rollout of services in Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan and Abuja.

Going by emerging market standards, Reuben could not have had a more challenging career buildup.


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TELCOS Invest in New Billing Platforms
A few operators are known to have made substantial investment in new billing platforms in recent times. Multilinks, VMobile in particular are confirmed to have acquired new software which make management of billing less burdensome.

Consumer Protection Takes off with levy
Protection for telecommunication consumers was raised a notch higher recently when the Consumer Protection Council went into an understanding with the Nigerian Communications Commission essentially to remove regulatory overlaps. It is however yet to be very clear how the understanding translates to better days for telecommunication consumers.

The Consumer Protection Council is the apex agency of government with statutory responsibility for overall protection of consumers in the economy while the NCC is the telecom sector regulator.

The NCC in recent years manifestly sought relief’s for telecom consumers especially when public murmuring turned to loud noise against high cost in the face of poor service and operator insensitivity. The Commission built into its structure a Consumer Affair Bureau whose flagship of ingenious creations is the telecom consumer ‘parliament’. The ‘parliament’ of stakeholders sit in session regularly to discuss and remove misunderstanding and distrust among all parties concerned, operators and consumers, without recourse to litigations. And it worked like magic. For its assembly, the parliament initially sat at the old parliament building in Lagos and after almost 18 moths of successful transaction rotated the sessions among other state capitals. In several ways the parliament lived to its bill.

The manner of protection of consumers by the Council is yet to be popular public knowledge.

In the memorandum of understanding which the Council signed recently with the Commission, Operators are obliged to pay to the Council an administrative fee of 1% of the aggregate benefits of a sales promotion, which in any case shall not exceed N1, 500, 000.00 for the registration/supervision of sales promotions.

Hopefully, the Council will invest part of such levies in mounting public information on how it is protecting consumers.

NCC FLAGS OFF WiRE NIGERIA, WiN, PROJECT TO TAKE BROADBAND INTO RURAL COMMUNITIES.
A 2004 initiative of the Nigerian Communications Commission which sought to facilitate private sector build out of an all purpose nationwide fibre optic backbone translated to practical meaning recently when three pilot projects were flagged off by the Commission. About the same time, Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Engr Ernest Ndukwe made a presentation to an international conference in Abuja where he discussed the challenges which African regulators face on provision of broadband access. The presentation is converted to text in the following essay.

Challenges of facilitating broadband access for African Regulators by Ernest Ndukwe
Broadband is no doubt an accelerator of social and economic development in the modern world with its applications enabling and facilitating economic and social services such as Public Safety, National Security, Telemedicine, E-government, E-education/Distance learning, utility applications etc. Broadband has the potential to integrate even isolated areas into the national and global economic activity and make businesses more efficient and competitive.

In the UK, the provision of access to broad band connections was important enough to be embodied in their government policy. Korea’s government has consistently promoted the development and use of Information and Communications Technology infrastructures since the mid 1980’s. Today, Korea is one of the world’s most advanced users of information technology and boasts of highest broadband penetration density in the world. China has been growing her ICT networks at an astonishing rate since the past decade and is currently the world’s largest telecommunications market, both for fixed and wireless networks. In the USA, spending on Telecommunications equipment have continued to grow and are estimated to reach $1 trillion by 2007, up from $720 billion in 2003.

While we are racing to increase access to basic telephone services, the more advanced countries are increasing access to new technologies such as internet and broadband at such an exponential rate. The world’s biggest or “G7” economies are now in the broadband “top ten”.

There is already a major broadband divide between Africa and the rest of the world. There is therefore an urgent need to initiate national policies aimed at promoting ubiquitous broadband deployment. We must continue to work hard at narrowing the information gap to make sure that Africa becomes a major knowledge centre in the information age.

One of the factors that have militated against more rapid roll out of broadband services is the inadequacy of transmission infrastructure within and between most African countries. Typically in many African countries, optic fiber and microwave transmission infrastructure is available to only a limited number of cities. A second factor is the lack of pervasive copper infrastructure in most of our cities, towns and villages. Perhaps most African Countries did not have the financial capacity nor the expertise to deploy such networks in the past. This makes wide deployment of DSL / ADSL impracticable.

Access to broadband connections to be embodied in government policy as priority. Support deployment of high capacity national and regional fibre optic backbones

Since we have infrastructure limitations in access networks for fixed line broadband, Africa must encourage the deployment of wireless broadband.
WiFi for example enables PDA, laptop and desktop computers to access the internet at warp speeds. Wireless phones today are able to offer mobile internet access. Satellite-based wireless broadband holds great promise as a solution for Africa.

Realising that the adoption of broadband is inescapable even in the short run, regulators must ensure that deployment of Broadband services is encouraged.
It is also important to ensure that any regulatory action is to facilitate and not discourage deployment of broadband services.

To make broadband widely available and affordable in Africa, three drivers can be considered: Competition, Regulatory oversight and Right Operators

First, an essential requirement for pervasive broadband deployment is that it should be low cost and affordable. Competition is a prerequisite for innovation and introduction new services such as broadband to ensure choice, quality and affordability.

Secondly, t is essential for issues such as: Licensing operators to provide broadband, mandating unbundling of the local loop, making spectrum available for wireless broadband, facilitating a healthy competitive operating environment and protecting the Consumer.

Care should be taken to provide the right environment and regulatory structures to attract only serious investors with access to sources of capital required for adequate network build out and expansion. Serious investors who have long-term business perspectives.

In Nigeria, we have embarked on facilitation of massive build out of Optic fibre transmission infrastructure nationwide by initiating the WiN project and facilitation of Broadband & Internet Infrastructure deployment in state capitals and commercial centres by the SABI project.

One of the fundamental priorities of a regulator in Africa today must be to seek to meet the requirements of the consumer for good quality, widely available and affordable broadband services. This can be achieved through facilitating an environment for investment and healthy competition. Government and Policy makers have a key role to play in ensuring that access to broadband connections be embodied in government policy.


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POSITION 2 MOVES TELCOS NEARER TO SUBSCRIBER LEVEL DEFINITION
It has never been an issue that telephone operators published their subscriber growth level since all figures point to happy development: growth. In recent times however, Globacom’s claim to a second position in terms of subscribers’ growth became contestable as its rival for the position, Vmobile, would want to claim right to that same position. In a public announcement which apparently veils the major issue of ranking, Vmobile claims it has 5 million active subscribers in its network. It goes ahead to define active subscriber as ‘a phone user who has received an incoming or made an outgoing call on the network in the previous three months’. Perhaps so.
Of course there may be other definitions which others telcos choose to adhere to in making claims and assigning ranks. The arguments may go on until the Nigerian Communications Commission rules on the approved definition -- and who should publish such information.

ALCATEL-LUCENT MERGER GOES THROUGH
Equipment vendor Lucent Technologies and its French rival Alcatel have now firmed up their merger plans and executives on either side are talking bright about the deal which is certainly in its final stage.
Talks went on since 2001 when protectionism and ego on who was the underdog in the deal took centre stage but in recent public pronouncements top guys in the two companies said the alliance is now of ‘equal partners’. Lucent must have got the Chairman and CEO position for its Patricia Russo while all body-talks point to the fact that Alcatel will actually call the shots in the emerging company.
Alcatel, renown for DSL equipment needs ‘boom-to-burst’ Lucent to expand its presence in the U.S. market especially as the latter is strong in CDMA wireless infrastructure business and services.

BELLSOUTH HOPEFUL WITH AT & T
AT&T and BellSouth are also tying merger knots in a deal which proponents say will uniquely position the emerging company to provide customers the newest technologies.

TALKS ON FIBRE
Donald Keck to Address ICTe Africa 2006
Dr. Donald Keck, a former Vice President and Technology Director at Corning Incorporated, the world’s largest supplier of optical fibre, will be one of the plenary session key note speakers at the 2006 ICTe Africa conference, holding 17 - 21 May 2006, KICC in Nairobi, Kenya.

In 1970, Dr. Robert Maurer, Dr. Donald Keck, and Dr. Peter Schultz designed and produced the first optical fibre with optical losses low enough for wide use in telecommunications. Previously, the limiting factor for communication over optical fibre was the amount of light lost during transmission. The key was restricting light loss to 20 decibels per kilometer (at least one percent of the light entering a fibre remains after travelling one kilometer). Scientists around the world had worked on the problem for years to no avail.

Optical fibre is the foundation for the global and modern multimedia telecommunications networks. More than 90 percent of the U.S. long-distance traffic is already carried over optical fibre and millions of kilometers have been installed, virtually all of it using the original design of Maurer, Keck and Schultz.

It is evident that the deployment of optical fibre for communications has catalyzed the rapid development of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), especially in the developed countries. It is also evident that accelerated ICT development has had a profound impact on economic development in those counties that embrace modern ICTs. In Nigeria both NITEL and Globacom -- the two national operators -- have made substantial investment in Fibre infrastructure across the country.

Unfortunately, the digital divide between Africa and the rest of the world continues unabated. Africa still spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year to route voice and data traffic from Africa to Africa through Europe and North America. Internet penetration is only 2.5% compared to 17.8% for the rest of the world and 69% for Hong Kong. The cost of the only fibre link between a few sub-Saharan African countries and the rest of the world, SAT-3/WASC/SAFE, remains the most expensive in the world due to lack of competition and therefore remains underutilized. Despite the low cost of labour and shorter time difference with Europe and North America, Africa has still been unable to compete with India and other countries for the lucrative tele-center market. The list of short comings is endless.

Dr. Keck’s presentation is expected to motivate the audience to embrace fibre optic deployment in Africa as a vehicle to catching up with the rest of the world on ICT development and shrink the digital divide.

More details on the conference can be found on http://www.nepadcouncil.org/ICTeAfrica2006 or by contacting the conference coordinator, Miss Alida Phielix: aphielix@nepadcouncil.org
[This story, slightly modified, was sent in by Alida Phielix aphielix@nepadcouncil.org]

SHOCKER FOR TELECOM INDUSTRY
AS VANGUARD’S GODFREY IKHEMUEMHE DIED SUDDENLY
The industry was jolted last Monday when unbelievable information went round that Mr. Godfrey Ikhemuemhe, a telecom/ICT writer with Vanguard Newspapers died few hours after dropping his children in school. That was also to say if the guy was sick, it was unknown to many people.

Suave, highly disciplined, investigative and deep, Godfrey became visible when he came into Vanguard as Deputy Communications Editor a few years ago and quickly rose to earn the respect of industry leaders, experts and technocrats who spoke to him freely. He came into an industry where writers had shown remarkable discipline and responsible reporting and added his lot to raise that to the level of Art.

Mid 2005, he picked several industry practitioners’ brain to do an essay, "Realising Nigeria's Universal Access," which went ahead in September 2005 to win the “AISI GTZ” 1st Prize (print category) on Promoting the Information Society.


CYBERSCHUULNEWS 219
TELCOS May Shun Abuja Market
Revelation from telecom operators put a question mark on the Abuja market as key ones among them say the market is not friendly. Returns, they say, have not justified the hope they placed on Abuja and recent FCT government policy thrust makes it difficult for existing operators to increase attention let alone prospective ones building new infrastructure. The Federal Capital Territory’s government imposed a N3million per base station per annum tax on revenue drive just as it orders recharge card hawkers out of the streets to implement its beautification agenda.

A concerned operator, a PTO, says a chunk of his sales is from ‘those boys you see in the street and under the umbrella’ since Nigerians don’t patronise big shops. If they are not there my business is dead. Yes, the GSM guys may be able to do without them but we cannot’. Another who recently got license to operate in Abuja has changed his mind and opted to operate in two other cities for which investment may be less than Abuja and return may be better.

One operator wants cyberschuulnews to belief that no one has built a base station in Abuja in the past one year.

They argue that the taxes in Lagos are also huge but the market makes all the difference. What suffers are consumers pocket as prices will ‘remain up’.

UNIVERSAL ACCESS TAKES OFF IN NIGERIA
Rural[Universal] Access, a euphemism for bringing broadband nearest to rural communities, may have taken off in Nigeria. The NCC whose WIre Nigeria project, WIN, is being supported by the World Bank told industry eggheads in Lagos during the week that three pilot projects which will bring broadband access to villages under a guided private sector implementation will soon flag off in South West, South East and North East of the country.

'Rural Access' is a slightly different subject from ‘rural telephony’ which describes the enhancement of access of rural dweller to telephone service. Rural Access goes beyond that as it facilitates the access of all communities to all aspects of telecommunications.

The Nigerian Government is also involved in a rural telephony project which is an initiative of Chinese telecom equipment Vendors.
There are indications that President Obasanjo has approved a board for management of the Universal Access Provision Fund.




CYBERSCHUULNEWS 218
BILL GATES POOH-POOHs MIT'S $100 LAPTOP
Bill gates must be angry. Understandably so. Last Wednesday in Washington, the guy talked down the $100 laptop computer which MIT champions for developing countries and being developed with the backing of Google, Microsoft’s rival. Hear him
"The last thing you want to do for a shared use computer is have it be something without a disk ... and with a tiny little screen. Hardware is a small part of the cost of providing computing capabilities, the big costs come from network connectivity, applications and support’.

U’re marveling at the ways of capitalists?

FINE-TUNING THE INTERCONNECT RATE: NCC ADOPTS INTERIM DEFINITIONS
The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC said at various times that it preferred that Operators among themselves come up with mutually respectable and acceptable rates of interconnect so it could endorse. But the positions of the operators consistently diverge. Its like the two major positions were those ‘of the GSM’s and of the PTO’s’, using local vocabulary. Several times, each of the various Associations of Operators have been told to go an find a common ground only to come up with a new verdict of an absence of consensus. What do associations exist for if they do not supply input into critical contentious issues? Who is common enemy if not such issues!

For now, the Commission has signed on a Consultant, to conduct a cost study and advise it on the best way forward while in the interim it has defined a ‘near-end-hand-off’ and a ‘far-end-hand-off’, as determinants of calculating interconnect fee.

The ‘far-end handoff’ is where the originating operator hands over a call to the terminating operator in the state in which the called party is located.

The ‘near-end handoff’ is where the originating operator hands over the call to the terminating operator in a location that is not the state in which the called party is located.

Where a mobile operator implements a near-end handoff, the mobile operator pays the sum of N11.52 as interconnect fee to the terminating party.

Where a mobile operator implements a far-end handoff, the mobile operator pays the sum of N5.52 to the terminating fixed operator.

Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu, who teaches telecommunications, told a class recently that while the cost-base model is the apt strategy for determining interconnect rates he thinks that a close study may spin pleasant surprises. He says ‘it is cost of doing their business that makes the GSM’s bigger not cost of acquiring their infrastructure. ...It is everybody’s business if you have to buy 2 generators for each base station or paying these stupid taxes which every government in the land imposes ……It will be your own business if you give fat bribes to political office holders who maneuver the peoples’ money for you to do business with or if you share out 1,000 motor cars because you must coerce the people’

RECYCLED COMPUTERS:TOXIC DUMPS or DIGITAL BRIDGE ENABLERS?
In October 2004 CYBERSCHUULNEWS reported as follows:
There is a burgeoning market for used and refurbished computers in Nigeria, and indeed in Africa and many of these computers have found their ways into our educational institutions. The rationale for this has mostly that Africans cannot afford new computers, and that these 'refurbs' give an opportunity to get on the information superhighway and bridge the digital divide.

But are these premises true? What are the benefits of refurbs to Africa and Africans? What are the real issues at stake? CYBERSCHUULNEWS, we will serialise an article written by Dorcas Muthoni, a concerned African on the concept of used and refurbished computers, why the industrialised countries are sending them to Africa, and the long-term effects on Africa, our schools, and our children.

Indeed cyberschuulnews did the serialization at the time. Editions 168, 169, 170. Only a few comments were received. And the matter was suspended. A few days ago An IT Web Reporter did the following treatment on a study which Base Action Network did . It is culled from ITWEB

Africa becomes digital dump
BY STAFF WRITER, ITWEB

A recent study by toxic trade watchdog organisation, Basel Action Network (BAN), has found that recycled computers and other electronic equipment quickly find their way to toxic waste dumps in African countries.

The group's photo-documentary report, entitled "The Digital Dump: Exporting high-tech re-use and abuse to Africa", exposes what is thought to be an escalating global trade in toxic, obsolete, discarded computers and other e-scrap collected in North America and Europe and sent to developing countries by waste brokers and so-called recyclers.

The study found that the reason Africa attracts the second-hand equipment is that the skills exist here to repair and refurbish it.

However, BAN quotes local experts in Lagos, Nigeria, as saying that of the estimated 500 containers of used electronic goods shipped to Lagos each month, as much as 75% of the imports are "junk" and are not economically repairable or marketable.

The e-waste either accumulates or is burned in dump sites, creating serious health and environmental contamination from the toxic leachate and smoke, says the report.

"Re-use is a good thing, bridging the digital divide is a good thing, but exporting loads of techno-trash in the name of these lofty ideals and seriously damaging the environment and health of poor communities in developing countries is criminal," says Jim Puckett, coordinator of BAN, who led the field investigation.

BAN says much of this trade is illegal under international rules governing trade in toxic waste such as the Basel Convention.

The group says the US and other exporting and importing countries need to properly enforce the provisions of the Basel Convention, which would require all such e-scrap exports to be properly tested for functionality and certified to be going to re-use destinations rather than for disposal or recycling.

The report includes evidence of numerous computer identification tags from schools and government agencies as well as forensic examinations of hard-drives picked up by BAN in Lagos, revealing personal information about their previous owners.

"Things are completely out of control," says Puckett. "Manufacturers have got to get toxic chemicals out of electronic goods, governments have got to start enforcing international law, and we consumers have got to be a lot more careful about what our local ‘recycler' is really doing. It's time we all get serious about what is now a tsunami of toxic techno-trash making its way from rich to poorer countries, and start taking some responsibility."

The BAN Web site includes photographs and guidelines for safe export of used equipment.



CYBERSCHUULNEWS 216
MTS SUBSCRIBERS TO CALL USA AT N15.00 PER MINUTE
Telephone calls from Nigeria to the USA, Canada and Netherlands are now N15 per minute while calls to China is N19 per minute. Italy, Ireland, and Germany N16 per minute and UK N17 per minute. South Africa N23, and Ghana N25 per minute.

These call rates were announced by MTS First Wireless for its subscribers recently.

STAKEHOLDERS HAIL UNIFIED LICENSING AGAIN
On the eve of release of policy pronouncement by the Nigerian Communications Commission on Unified licensing, stakeholders at a meeting, again, raised the thumb for the initiative. ‘We have our interest and we have expressed it. Of course there is also the common interest. We move on.’ That was how a vocal representative of Mobile operators captured it. Operators have had their say, the industry has had its way.

Gbenga Adebayo, VGC’s General Manager, did one of the major talks and he used issues of Co-sharing of Infrastructures, Merger and Acquisition, Interconnect Indebtedness, Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanction for Erring Operators to paint the emerging challenge to all those involved in the future of the industry as, in his opinion, ‘ ..the Unified license will offer a fair opportunity for all…’

NCC’s Vice-Chairman, Ernest Ndukwe repeated the resolve of NCC to regulate the industry in a proactive manner. He argued that although policy has always been slow in catching up with technological developments everywhere, it is clear that a shift to converged licensing, offers the solution to a number of issues confronting the industry. He also hinted that the industry would commence a regime of heavy sanction to operators who flout interconnect decisions of the Commission just as debtors would also be promptly dealt with.

FOR TRUE CAREER DEVELOPMENT;
SKILLS, LOYALTY EMPHASISED
Engineers who completed a purpose-built Telecom Network Maintenance Training in Warri were advised not only to develop their skills but also to be loyal to their employers and subscribers. This advice was handed down by Titi omo-Ettu Chairman, The Executive Cyberschuul who gave a closing lecture at the end of the two weeks hand-on training for network maintenance engineers last Friday.

The concluding part of
Unified Licensing Regime and The Way Forward ,by Gbenga Adebayo GM, VGC Communications Ltd.

The challenge to operating Companies, in order that we all survive in the Unified License regime is: we must
• Invest in Manpower development, train and retrain our technical and support personnel.
• We must keep good employee welfare and provide the right working environment.
• We must invest in youg Nigerian professionals, by taking interest in their training and education.
• We must reduce gradually the dependence of foreign expertise, train local engineers to understudy the foreign hands, it cost between three to four times more to keep a foreign engineers than to keep a local engineer under very good welfare package.
• Contribute to the development programme of existing telecommunications training institutes, such as the Digital Bridge Institute, and the nitel Training Schools across the country.

Conditions for operators in the Unified License
Operators must possess the following amongst other criteria for the grant of Unified license:
• Proven track record of responsibility in the area of settlement of interconnect obligations.
• Prompt payment of Bank Loan obligations,
• Proof of settlement of all Tax liabilities,
• Proof of regular payment of staff salaries and entitlements
• Operators with proven record of success in the scope of their current licenses, and compliance with license obligations including geographical coverage, should be considered for Unified License.
• Revenue per line should also be considered.

In order to further assist the private operators, may I request that the NCC should consider the following:
1. Reduction in the 2.5% of turn over annual levy paid by the operators.
2. The 2.5% may be set as a maximum, but should be based on certain minimum turn over. Because the margins are dropping, cost of business is getting higher and the operating environment is not getting friendlier.
3. Frequency Management should be better controlled: Frequencies issued to many operators but not used, such should be withdrawn and re-assigned.
4. NCC should reduce the annual charges for frequency slot
5. NCC should waive the annual charge for numbering plan

Unified license is good for Competition and it is the way forward, there is no doubt that there would be divergent view about it, but it is the way to go.

Operators offering wireless local loop are already having difficult times due to the challenges of competition posed by market forces, and if they would not have an opportunity to compete fairly, such smaller service providers would eventually be out of the scene.

The Unified license will offer a fair opportunity for all.

We might say that the Operators of GSM services paid more for their licenses five years ago, but we must remember that at that time, in 2001 there were less than five hundred thousand (500,000) functional telephone lines in the country, but in just under five years, the number of connected fixed and mobile telephone lines has gone up to 17 million lines they had the pioneer advantage, and all the associated market opportunities.

Cellphones on Flights Pose Greater Risk to Airplanes Than Previously Thought
A study by Carnegie Mellon University researchers in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy (EPP) has found that cell phones and other portable electronic devices, like laptops and game-playing devices, can pose dangers to the normal operation of critical electronics on airplanes. The study will be featured in an article appearing in the March issue of IEEE Spectrum. The researchers found that on average one to four cell phone calls are typically made from every commercial flight in the northeast United States. Some of these calls are made during critical flight stages such as climb-out, or on final approach. This could cause accidents, the investigators report.

"We found that the risk posed by these portable devices is higher than previously believed," said Bill Strauss, who recently completed his Ph.D. in EPP at Carnegie Mellon. "These devices can disrupt normal operation of key cockpit instruments, especially Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, which are increasingly vital for safe landings." Strauss is an expert in aircraft electromagnetic compatibility at the Naval Air Warfare Center in Patuxent River, Md.
With support from the Federal Aviation Administration, three major airlines and the Transportation Security Agency, EPP researchers crisscrossed the northeast United States on commercial flights, monitoring radio emissions from passenger use of cell phones and other electronic devices. They tracked these radio emissions via a broadband antenna attached to a compact portable spectrum analyzer that fit into an innocuous carry-on bag.
"A laptop computer controlled the system and logged the data," said Granger Morgan, head of the EPP Department. "While we looked primarily at wireless phones, we also discovered that emissions from other portable electronic devices were problematic."
Both Strauss and Morgan, along with Carnegie Mellon researchers Jay Apt and Dan Stancil, recommend that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the FAA begin to coordinate electronic emission standards. At the moment, there is no formal coordination between the two federal agencies. The researchers also recommend routine monitoring of on-board radio emissions by flight data recorders and deploying specially designed tools for flight crews to monitor passenger use of electronic devices during final approach.
While the FCC recently suggested that it might be appropriate to allow passengers to use cell phones and other electronic devices on airplanes, Morgan disagrees.
"We feel that passenger use of portable electronic devices on aircraft should continue to be limited for the safety of all concerned," Morgan said.

The above is culled from http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16343.php , courtesy reference of Kola Olaniyan



CYBERSCHUULNEWS 216
MTS SUBSCRIBERS TO CALL USA AT N15.00 PER MINUTE
Telephone calls from Nigeria to the USA, Canada and Netherlands are now N15 per minute while calls to China is N19 per minute. Italy, Ireland, and Germany N16 per minute and UK N17 per minute. South Africa N23, and Ghana N25 per minute.

These call rates were announced by MTS First Wireless for its subscribers recently.

STAKEHOLDERS HAIL UNIFIED LICENSING AGAIN
On the eve of release of policy pronouncement by the Nigerian Communications Commission on Unified licensing, stakeholders at a meeting, again, raised the thumb for the initiative. ‘We have our interest and we have expressed it. Of course there is also the common interest. We move on.’ That was how a vocal representative of Mobile operators captured it. Operators have had their say, the industry has had its way.

Gbenga Adebayo, VGC’s General Manager, did one of the major talks and he used issues of Co-sharing of Infrastructures, Merger and Acquisition, Interconnect Indebtedness, Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanction for Erring Operators to paint the emerging challenge to all those involved in the future of the industry as, in his opinion, ‘ ..the Unified license will offer a fair opportunity for all…’

NCC’s Vice-Chairman, Ernest Ndukwe repeated the resolve of NCC to regulate the industry in a proactive manner. He argued that although policy has always been slow in catching up with technological developments everywhere, it is clear that a shift to converged licensing, offers the solution to a number of issues confronting the industry. He also hinted that the industry would commence a regime of heavy sanction to operators who flout interconnect decisions of the Commission just as debtors would also be promptly dealt with.

FOR TRUE CAREER DEVELOPMENT;
SKILLS, LOYALTY EMPHASISED
Engineers who completed a purpose-built Telecom Network Maintenance Training in Warri were advised not only to develop their skills but also to be loyal to their employers and subscribers. This advice was handed down by Titi omo-Ettu Chairman, The Executive Cyberschuul who gave a closing lecture at the end of the two weeks hand-on training for network maintenance engineers last Friday.

The concluding part of
Unified Licensing Regime and The Way Forward ,by Gbenga Adebayo GM, VGC Communications Ltd.

The challenge to operating Companies, in order that we all survive in the Unified License regime is: we must
• Invest in Manpower development, train and retrain our technical and support personnel.
• We must keep good employee welfare and provide the right working environment.
• We must invest in youg Nigerian professionals, by taking interest in their training and education.
• We must reduce gradually the dependence of foreign expertise, train local engineers to understudy the foreign hands, it cost between three to four times more to keep a foreign engineers than to keep a local engineer under very good welfare package.
• Contribute to the development programme of existing telecommunications training institutes, such as the Digital Bridge Institute, and the nitel Training Schools across the country.

Conditions for operators in the Unified License
Operators must possess the following amongst other criteria for the grant of Unified license:
• Proven track record of responsibility in the area of settlement of interconnect obligations.
• Prompt payment of Bank Loan obligations,
• Proof of settlement of all Tax liabilities,
• Proof of regular payment of staff salaries and entitlements
• Operators with proven record of success in the scope of their current licenses, and compliance with license obligations including geographical coverage, should be considered for Unified License.
• Revenue per line should also be considered.

In order to further assist the private operators, may I request that the NCC should consider the following:
1. Reduction in the 2.5% of turn over annual levy paid by the operators.
2. The 2.5% may be set as a maximum, but should be based on certain minimum turn over. Because the margins are dropping, cost of business is getting higher and the operating environment is not getting friendlier.
3. Frequency Management should be better controlled: Frequencies issued to many operators but not used, such should be withdrawn and re-assigned.
4. NCC should reduce the annual charges for frequency slot
5. NCC should waive the annual charge for numbering plan

Unified license is good for Competition and it is the way forward, there is no doubt that there would be divergent view about it, but it is the way to go.

Operators offering wireless local loop are already having difficult times due to the challenges of competition posed by market forces, and if they would not have an opportunity to compete fairly, such smaller service providers would eventually be out of the scene.

The Unified license will offer a fair opportunity for all.

We might say that the Operators of GSM services paid more for their licenses five years ago, but we must remember that at that time, in 2001 there were less than five hundred thousand (500,000) functional telephone lines in the country, but in just under five years, the number of connected fixed and mobile telephone lines has gone up to 17 million lines they had the pioneer advantage, and all the associated market opportunities.

Cellphones on Flights Pose Greater Risk to Airplanes Than Previously Thought
A study by Carnegie Mellon University researchers in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy (EPP) has found that cell phones and other portable electronic devices, like laptops and game-playing devices, can pose dangers to the normal operation of critical electronics on airplanes. The study will be featured in an article appearing in the March issue of IEEE Spectrum. The researchers found that on average one to four cell phone calls are typically made from every commercial flight in the northeast United States. Some of these calls are made during critical flight stages such as climb-out, or on final approach. This could cause accidents, the investigators report.

"We found that the risk posed by these portable devices is higher than previously believed," said Bill Strauss, who recently completed his Ph.D. in EPP at Carnegie Mellon. "These devices can disrupt normal operation of key cockpit instruments, especially Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, which are increasingly vital for safe landings." Strauss is an expert in aircraft electromagnetic compatibility at the Naval Air Warfare Center in Patuxent River, Md.
With support from the Federal Aviation Administration, three major airlines and the Transportation Security Agency, EPP researchers crisscrossed the northeast United States on commercial flights, monitoring radio emissions from passenger use of cell phones and other electronic devices. They tracked these radio emissions via a broadband antenna attached to a compact portable spectrum analyzer that fit into an innocuous carry-on bag.
"A laptop computer controlled the system and logged the data," said Granger Morgan, head of the EPP Department. "While we looked primarily at wireless phones, we also discovered that emissions from other portable electronic devices were problematic."
Both Strauss and Morgan, along with Carnegie Mellon researchers Jay Apt and Dan Stancil, recommend that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the FAA begin to coordinate electronic emission standards. At the moment, there is no formal coordination between the two federal agencies. The researchers also recommend routine monitoring of on-board radio emissions by flight data recorders and deploying specially designed tools for flight crews to monitor passenger use of electronic devices during final approach.
While the FCC recently suggested that it might be appropriate to allow passengers to use cell phones and other electronic devices on airplanes, Morgan disagrees.
"We feel that passenger use of portable electronic devices on aircraft should continue to be limited for the safety of all concerned," Morgan said.

The above is culled from http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16343.php , courtesy reference of Kola Olaniyan



CYBERSCHUULNEWS 215
Starcomms Network Broadband-ready
In another trailblazing feat, Starcomms, Nigeria's foremost PTO and CDMA player, says that it has put in place a broadband service that will allow subscribers access data at speeds of up to 400 kilobytes per second.

The CDMA giant says that the CDMA 2000 1x EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimised) broadband platform will deliver high-speed mobile data, allowing users stay connected on their PDAs and Pocket PC-phones. This is another first by Starcomms which recently hit the 250,000 subscriber mark.

Zinox plans for low-priced PCs
From Nigeria comes the cheering news that Zinox Technologies is working on plans to introduce low-priced Personal Computers into the market before the end of 2006. Through its "Computerise Nigeria" initiative, the company expects to have PCs priced below N50,000 in the market soon.

NCC Intervenes to Ensure Presentation of Star Prize in MTN Promo to Genuine Winner
The timely intervention of the Nigerian Communications Commission has ensured that an MTN subscriber, Mr. Isaac Dike, who is a genuine winner of the star prize in MTN’s recent Yellow Season Promo, was on February 14, 2006 presented with the new Kia Optima car he won.

Dave Imoko, Head, Public Affairs at NCC told cyberschuulnews that :

‘….Dike’s mother, Mrs Martha Ugi, had earlier lodged a complaint with the Commission’s Consumer Affairs Bureau alleging that the star prize won by her son during the 7th Draw of the MTN Yello Season Promo was not given to him. She disclosed that the star prize of a new Kia Optima car was instead given to a certain Chinenye Onyema who MTN claimed had the same winning number as Dike’s.

Mrs Ugi, having made several visits to MTN offices on behalf of her son in order to get the company to honour its commitment without success, eventually brought the matter before the Commission.

The Commission promptly instituted an inquiry into the matter which established that the complainant was the owner of the winning number 08065434897. The complainant also produced a newspaper report with his number as the wining number and another newspaper report of the presentation of the star prize to someone else in Port Harcourt.

The Commission subsequently came to the conclusion that the error of handing over the star prize to someone else other than the genuine winner was made by MTN and therefore directed MTN to give the complainant the star prize he rightly won.

Obliging the Commission’s directive, MTN’s General Manager, Northern Region, Mr. Mike Ikpoki, presented Dike with a new Kia Optima car on behalf of the company at its Abuja office in the presence of a delegation of the Commission led by the Executive Commissioner, Licensing and Consumer Affairs, Dr. Bahir Gwandu.

On receiving the car, Dike thanked the Commission for its intervention to ensure that the star prize was presented to him.


MTS ROLLS OUT SERVICES IN IBADAN
MTSFirst has announced a rollout of services which include integrated telephony, wireless voice, and Internet services using desktop and mobile phone handsets, in Ibadan.

Subscribers on the Ibadan MTSFirst network would be on numbering scheme 02-70 XXXX.
Services are available in Ojoo, Agbowo, Sango, Mokola, Dugbe, University of Ibadan, old and new Bodija, and all the surrounding areas.
Port Harcourt and Abuja networks are expected to follow soon.

EXECUTIVE MOVEMENT
IN NIGERIA,
EMELIFE MOVES ON FROM HP to CISCO
Maduka Emelife, Head of hp’s operations in Nigeria recently moved to Cisco Nigeria while Lloyd Atabansi replaced him at hp.
IN USA
MICHAEL NEUMAN LEAVES ECHOSTAR
President and Chief Operating Officer of EchoStar Communications, Michael Neuman resigned last week after less than eight months on the job.
The Dish Network satellite-television service provider which is base in Douglas County did not say why Michael left.
IN NIGERIA
MAHER QUBAIN NOW CEO OF STARCOMMS
Urbane engineer and former Chief Technical Officer, Maher Qubain has taken over as Chief Executive Officer of Starcomms in Lagos. Maher has been part of the success story of Starcomms.

A CDMA Revolution in The Offering? by Yomi Adegboye
A couple of years ago, the advent of the Global System of Mobile communications (GSM) in the country created a "revolution" of sorts. With relatively lower entry costs than existing fixed and mobile services, Nigerians naturally took the path of least resistance and rushed to get on the GSM train. The results have been impressive.

However, there seems to be a silent revolution going on. Finally, the initial euphoria of becoming phone owners is fast-fading and subscribers are coming to terms with the fact that talking is too expensive on the present GSM tarriffs. Now, subscribers are turning to fixed wireless (and their mobile services) as an alternative to GSM for everyday voice services.

First, the erstwhile high entry costs that kept subscribers away from PTO lines no longer exist. Second, whether it is for business or personal use, there is no controversy about the cost-effectiveness of services on the PTOs' networks.

While GSM subscribers are not throwing away their lines, a significant number are taking up fixed and mobile lines from CDMA networks - and using them more often. I very well expect to see this trend to continue for as long as GSM tariffs stay as high as they are now. My address book has experienced a strategic change in the last 6 months. Most of my contacts, for example, have now acquired PTO lines, and we communicate on those lines more often than not. As a matter of fact, our only communication on GSM lines as an unspoken rule have been restricted to SMS (and that may change as well, seeing that the PTOs are launching SMS service one after the other), and voice only in emergencies and when one party needs to roam out of town.

CDMA, which has been adopted by a majority of PTOs, is a very robust technology for delivering both voice and data. In the "beginning", the PTOs lost out because of bad management and marketing; not because of their technology. But that is changing as a number of PTOs are divesting and opening up their operations to investors with pedigree. Starcomms, Reltel, Intercellular, and Prestel are examples, and the results are already speaking for themselves on some of those networks.

With the new look of things, it is obvious that PTOs' networks can be run as competitively and as profitably as the GSM operators have done, given the right settings. And the settings are just right at the moment. Those investors pumping money into PTO operations know this as a fact.

I expect the GSM operators to continue to boast about their subscriber base for a long time, while the PTOs experience more and more traffic and increased average revenue per user in comparison.
Yomi Adegboye, CEO of DomainStandard Networks, is a valued friend of CyberSchuulNews

PRICE HIKE? YES, BUT A BOOST TO QOS:By Kola Olaniyan
Your observation that mobile Telcos have hiked rates in Nigeria is not accurate. You would note that all per minute and per second retail tariffs remain the same. Rather, the networks have reduced the discounts made available under the various booster/bumper/profitmax products. The fact that call rates of the "umbrella market" (call centers that is), have consequently gone up is, believe-it-or-not in the interest of subscribers. This is because call quality will improve with the temporary reduction in call volumes. It is natural that once the networks are able to accommodate the capacity the discounts will be restored. Some networks price quality over temporary financial gains, you see.

In my previous pieces which you were kind enough to publish, I made so much "heavy-weather" about good corporate practices and respect for contractual obligations as being key solutions to the dire straits some of our PTOs have found themselves. I also condemned the crocodile tears of begging the NCC to artificially reduce interconnect rates on the pretext that therein lay the solution to the PTOs financial problems. At the risk of being immodest, I believe that the fact that some PTOs are so good as to be attracting huge foreign investments while others are continuing in their death throes prove my point.



CYBERSCHUULNEWS 214
IN THE FACE OF STIFF DRIVE FOR CONSUMERS
TELCOS CUT RATES IN INDIA
TELCOS HIKE RATES IN NIGERIA
Nigeria’s market has its way of betraying logical forecasts as everyone has a good reason to do the unexpected. Competition for subscribers made GSM providers to reduce activation fee to as low as N200 with sumptuous airtime [ Glomobile gave over N1,000 as announced February 9] also added to fresh connections. But the rate for calls went up without notice especially in umbrella call centres which litter the land. Name it: from Lagos to Maiduguri; Sokoto to Obubra. The street-side call centers are responding to increases craftily induced by GSM providers.

In India, state-run telecommunication companies on February 10 declared a fresh war against private competitors in the booming phone market, cutting rates and announcing unprecedented rupee-per-minute calls anywhere within the rather big country. The cut in rates will take effect from March 1.

In India, nearly 5 million new phone connections were added in January, for a total of 80.61 million mobile phones and 49.21 million fixed-lines while Nigeria posted an almost 100% increase in number of GSM Mobile connections in the last one year bringing the total of mobiles to 18 million connections.


NATIONWIDE PROTEST AGAINST MOBILE PHONE SERVICES
PLANNED FOR FEBRUARY 17, 2006
Mobile phone users in Nigeria are expressing severe worries over high tariff, poor services, inaccurate billing, and subscriber-care insensitivity on the part of GSM service providers. Mr. Deolu Ogunbanjo, National President of National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers, announced in Lagos recently that members of his association are asking Nigerians to switch off their phones on Friday, February 17, 2006 in protest. According to him, Nigerian subscribers deserve better than the quality of service they get.
Four Mobile service providers who account for 18 million telephone connections are believed to have surreptitiously hiked tariff just about when it was believed that the planned unified license would bring a reduction in tariff.

THINGS LOOK UP AS PTO’S GET BUYERS
After a long process of due diligence not less than three fixed service providers in Nigeria are known to have got buyers to pick up majority stakes and to provide technical partnership for their re-engineering. Others are also getting offers which reliable informants say are better than leaving things the way they were going. RELTEL is known to have got a $20million support from the Chinese Development Bank, courtesy Huawei’s interest, while PRESTEL, a local community phone provider in Benin City got a buy-in from GV Telecom an investment platform for a better known Telecel. Things are also looking up at INTERCELLULAR whose rapport with Telecel is also firming up.
Meanwhile, Nigeria may be wooing Telkom of South Africa to review its earlier boycott of NITEL bid now that the authorities in Abuja are adopting a ‘headhunt’ approach to finding buyers instead of the ‘highest-bidder’ procedure that produced no good result. Telkom, if it agrees, will go it alone without Vodacom. Finance may be the major worries now as it is Okonjo-Iweala, World-Bank technocrat turned Finance Minister who has been leading the shuttles.

Cellphone delivers Internet to the blind
BY PAUL VECCHIATTO, ITWEB CAPE TOWN CORRESPONDENT
Vodacom has unveiled Nokia speaking cellphones, designed specifically to help blind or visually impaired people communicate over the GSM network and which include Internet access, says a statement by Vodacom.

The phones will give visually impaired people full access to cellular communication services, including data services such as text messaging, network information such as signal strength and cellphone information such as battery power status.

Vodacom says it is working closely with blind customers and organisations such as the South African National Council for the Blind (SANCB).

“These parties have played an invaluable role in guiding Vodacom to understand the communication requirements of customers who are blind or visually impaired,” says Mthobi Tyamzashe, Vodacom executive director, corporate affairs.

In September 2004, Vodacom was the third cellphone operator in the world, after its UK-based shareholder Vodafone Group, to launch the speaking phone to customers, he says. Customers can choose between three Vodacom speaking phones: the Nokia 6670, the Nokia 3230 and the Nokia 6680.

Most of the inherent features of a cellphone becomes fully accessible to a blind customer, including “viewing”, creating, and editing contacts, choosing a ringtone, activating and using Bluetooth, taking photos and creating and sending SMS and MMS messages. With the latest Talks software version (v2.0) loaded onto the speaking phones, access to the Internet is a new feature.

In September, Vodacom introduced the Vodacom Voice Bill service, which allows access to billing information with the use of reader software on PCs
This story is culled from ITWEB


CYBERSCHUULNEWS 213
'CHARLES JOSEPH, MOBITEL BOSS, WAS SHOT':SAYS CORONER’S REPORT.
Chief Magistrate Ayo Odugbesan, the Coroner who was appointed by the Chief Judge of Lagos State to carry out inquest into the circumstances of Engr. Charles Alaba Joseph’s death on September 15, 2005 reported recently that it was indeed a gunshot that killed the engineer.

Mrs. Odugbesan uses very harsh words to describe the conduct of the police who, she says, did not investigate the matter the way it ought to as its personnel were much in a hurry to discredit the finding of the first autopsy that said the death was a result of gun shot.
‘..I find that Mr. Joseph was killed on the ledge where his body was found. I can only assume that he must have found his way back into the building and taken the elevator down to the car park and climbed down onto the ledge probably with the intention of jumping to the ground which is a shorter distance from the 3rd floor and mixing with the crowd. Whoever saw and killed him pursued him from the car park onto that ledge''.

The Coroner says she is disappointed by the attitude of pathologists who were only eager to defend the position they had taken and also in Intercontinental Bank which was not forthcoming with facts that could help her job. She considers it unnecessary for the Receive Manager to have chosen police escorts who had too much of fire power in taking over a company.
She says her report is subject to review of the Chief Justice.

NCC Announces Unified Access Service in Nigeria
The Nigerian Communications Commission has issued a formal expression of intent to provide a Licensing Framework for Unified Access Service in Nigeria.

The Commission says it will not impose separate rollout obligations on unified licensees, but rather deal with universal access issues in a separate universal access regulation, in which universal access targets and respective designation mechanisms are defined.
Under the proposed platform, the interconnection obligation remains mandatory for all operators and Dominant operators will be mandated to publish a list of