₦airaland Forum

The management of the Nigerian Communications Commission has warned members of the public to not be swayed by the contract award letters in circulation purportedly signed by the Commission’s Management, saying it’s fake.

The Commission, through a statement that was put out recently said, its attention had been drawn to the circulation of letters of award of various contracts purportedly written by its Secretary.

“The commission wishes to categorically state that these letters were not issued by the commission. When contracts are to be awarded by the commission, adverts are published in various newspapers, the Federal Tenders Journal and our websites,” the statement said.

“The procurement process adopted by the Commission is always transparent and can be duly verified,” the statement added.

The Commission, therefore, urged the general public and corporate entities that thorough diligence is conducted in all cases to avoid falling victim to the peddlers of these fake letters of award.

read more on http://itedgenews.ng/2017/05/16/ncc-warns-public-of-fake-contract-award-letters-in-circulation/

Isis, another terrorist group operating in Iraq, Syria and some other Middle Eastern countries has used live streaming of beheading people to send fear into millions across the world.

“If we’re going to build a safe community, we need to respond quickly. We’re working to make these videos easier to report so we can take the right action sooner – whether that’s responding quickly when someone needs help or taking a post down,” said Zuckerberg in a statement.

“Over the next year, we’ll be adding 3,000 people to our community operations team around the world – on top of the 4,500 we have today – to review the millions of reports we get every week and improve the process for doing it quickly.”

“These reviewers will also help us get better at removing things we don’t allow on Facebook like hate speech and child exploitation. And we’ll keep working with local community groups and law enforcement who are in the best position to help someone if they need it – either because they’re about to harm themselves, or because they’re in danger from someone else”.

He also added that “in addition to investing in more people, we’re also building better tools to keep our community safe. We’re going to make it simpler to report problems to us, faster for our reviewers to determine which posts violate our standards and easier for them to contact law enforcement if someone needs help. As these become available they should help make our community safer”.

read more on http://itedgenews.ng/2017/05/16/facebook-plans-to-shoot-down-terrorists-posts/

In terms of gambling frequency, Kenya also recorded the highest number of youths who have participated in gambling or betting in the past at 76%, followed by Uganda at 57%. Ghana had the least number at 42%.

In terms of Sports betting, football betting reigns in all countries except in South Africa. From the survey, lotteries are a more preferred gambling choice compared to football, casino, racing and poker in South Africa. Kenyan youths bet the most with 79% of bets placed on football matches.

In terms of Mobile usage, 75% of those who bet do use their mobile phones in Sub-Sahara Africa. At 96%, Kenya had the highest number of youths who used their mobile phones for gambling. South Africa, though having the highest rate of mobile penetration in Africa, has the lowest usage of the mobile for gambling at 48%.

According to reports, “Mobile phones have become the African Las Vegas. Football betting and the popularity of English football leagues continue to grow in a symbiotic way with a growing youth population that continues to be defined by its uptake of technology.”

read more on http://itedgenews.ng/2017/05/11/mobile-gambling-in-africa-kenya-ranks-no-1/

With the ever-growing reliance on computers, phones and of course, the internet, Online fraud has been an incessant concern for civilians, financial organizations, and even law-enforcement agencies around the globe.

Not oblivious to the panic that online fraud causes, CA Southern Africa, a provider of IT management and security solutions and sole representatives of CA Technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa, revealed the CA Risk Analytics Network. This network is aimed at reducing online fraud.The CA Risk Analytics Network is the payment industry’s only card-issuer network that stops card-not-present fraud instantly for network members. This is done by using real-time behaviour analytics, machine learning, and global transaction data to reduce online fraud losses by an average of 25 percent – a potential of $2.2 billion in savings.

As a cloud-based service, CA Risk Analytics Network incorporates a new advanced neural network model, backed by real-time machine learning, to protect 3-D Secure card-not-present (CNP) transactions. It learns from and adapts to, suspected fraudulent transactions in an average of five milliseconds, instantly closing the gap for potential fraud using the same card or device across all members of the network.

read more on http://itedgenews.ng/2017/05/11/heres-a-payment-security-solution-designed-to-tackle-online-fraud/

MTN Group has announced plans to expand in Iran, signing a non-binding preliminary agreement to invest approximately R540 million into Iranian Fixed Broadband Provider, Iranian Net.

In a statement issued by the telecommunications company, the investment will acquire a 49% stake in Iranian Net. As a part of the agreement, MTN will provide further investments of approximately R3.4 billion in both equity and loans to facilitate Iranian Net meeting its rollout targets over the next five years.

Read: MTN Group invests over $16b in Nigeria, expresses faith in economy

The preliminary agreement remains subject to finalizing suitable transaction agreements.

Iranian Net has a national license for the construction and operation of an optical data transmission network and fibre optic access network across Iran.

read more http://itedgenews.ng/2017/05/11/mtn-group-leads-on-broadband-expansion-in-iran/

Instagram has developed a new feature to their service that allows users to upload and post pictures without downloading the app. This fanciful mobile web experience expands on the company’s attempt to make the platform more accessible, regardless of data connection or the phone people are using. In a statement to Techcrunch, Instagram said that the mobile site is “designed to help people have a fuller experience on Instagram no matter what device or network they are on.”



This does not necessarily eliminate downloading the app as Instagram’s mobile site leaves out data-heavy features like Stories and newer capabilities like messaging, but it’s a lightweight option on slow networks and potentially the best solution on iPad. The mobile web launch ties in with Instagram’s global growth strategy aimed at the 80% of its users outside the US. Other product updates in this vein include web sign-up, a better onboarding flow for low-end Android users, and the recent addition of offline functionality.

read more on http://itedgenews.ng/2017/05/11/instagram-now-lets-you-upload-photos-from-its-mobile-website/

African mobile telecoms operators, infrastructure owners and service providers are ramping up investment and targeting acquisitions across the region to meet the surge in demand for connectivity, a leading telecom transaction adviser said.
“The African TMT vista remains extraordinarily vibrant. Fundamental demand is not in doubt, and neither is exponential growth in demand. This is reflected by telecommunications operators seeking economies of scale. This holds across the mobile sector, the towers sector and the broadband connectivity sector,” said Enda Hardiman, Managing Partner, Hardiman Telecommunications.

Hardiman will host the Telecom Leadership Panel at TMT Finance Africa 2017 (www.TMTFinance.com/africa) on May 24 in London, which will discuss strategies for regional growth, and includes: Thomas Chalumeau, Strategy Managing Director MEA, Orange; Stephen Van Coller, Stephen Van Coller, VP: Digital Services, Data Analytics and Business Development, MTN Group; David Eurin, Group CSO, Liquid Telecom; and Julian Adkins, CFO Africa, Millicom.

“In mobile, transnational groups are consolidating operations,” Hardiman commented. “This holds across countries and regions. It also holds in the case of potential acquisition of single-play LTE operators. New commercial strategies emphasise social media, entertainment and finance. ‘Basic’ connectivity no longer suffices. Investment continues apace.”

“In towers, critical mass achieved by transactions to date is now being consolidated. Further transactions, including major liquidity events, are in prospect. Significant impetus is lent to the sector, together with corresponding capital requirements, by developments in fibre connectivity, power, and, not least, the burgeoning IoT sector,” he said.

read more on http://itedgenews.ng/2017/05/10/surge-in-ma-and-investment-predicted-in-african-mobile-and-broadband-as-telcos-seek-scale/

News
May 10, 2017
InnJoo Commends IT Edge News For Professionalism
Posted By: adminer2 0 Comment AI, devices, ICT, Ike Martins, InnJoo, Nigeria, Rakesh Rocque, software
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By Anthony Nwosu

Social media makes everyone online a reporter and deepens the idea of citizen journalism. But not without some side effects as objective and factual journalism has diminished. News may be fiction or faction making the business of accurate information dissemination both difficult and complex.

But core facts sharing with objectivity is not on vacation at many media outlets which still thrive on the original ethics of news delivery guided by facts.

IT Edge News was recently commended and specially recognised by InnJoo, a leading OEM in mobility devices in Nigeria and other parts of Africa for its continuous professional delivery of ICT news analyses. Innjoo expressed the recognition during a work-visit by officials of KMI – Knowhow Media & Market Intelligence International Limited (publishers of IT Edge News) to InnJoo in Lagos.

Marketing Executive, InnJoo Mobile, Ike Martins, presenting the recognition award, on behalf of the device maker said “We are glad to be associated with IT Edge News and we have seen objective reporting in your platform, especially in the area of product reviews and sector’s assessment. We hope that this tempo will be sustained”.

In support of the professionalism exhibited by IT Edge News, Rakesh Rocque, Country Manager of InnJoo, has this to say: “ InnJoo is a device maker that supports quality and sustainability. As it pertains to our devices and products, we are acknowledging the strides that IT Edge News has made in the area of ICT reporting and as a company in Nigeria, we are poised to support them in their quest for professional news reportage, which is going into extinction because of new media” he added.

Danbatta made this known while speaking to a representative of the Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Right Honorable Mudashiru Obasa, former Minister of Defense, Honorable Ademola Seriki, the top management staff of the NCC and telecom companies as well as other stakeholders in the industry.

The campaign was conceptualized by NCC to amplify the education of the consumer on several initiatives instituted by the Commission to improve the Quality of Service (QoS), to protect and educate the consumer on steps to be taken to redress the challenges of telecom subscription, and thus reiterate the position of the consumer as the preeminent stakeholder of the telecom industry.

NCC’s Executive Commissioner Stakeholder Management, Mr. Sunday Dare, indicated in his remark at the occasion that the drivers of the NCC 2017 Year of the Nigerian Telecom Consumer campaign are the 2442 Do-Not-Disturb Service Code, the 622 toll free complaints line, Quality of Service (QoS), and correcting misrepresentations about Electromagnetic Field (EMF) radiation. These are the areas the campaign programme would focus on.

The highlight of the event was the unveiling of popular female comedian Helen Paul (characterized by a voice that makes her sound as a child) and popular male actor, Ali Nuhu (referred to in the media as the King of Kannywood). They were unveiled as Face of the Nigerian Telecom Consumer.
Danbatta emphasized that the Commission is closely monitoring, tracking and reviewing the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of operators and promised that greater efforts would also be put in place to ensure compliance monitoring and enforcement of set standards. He also stated that NCC is guided by the principles of fairness and transparency in the promotion of access to information by all.

read more on http://itedgenews.ng/2017/05/23/danbatta-nigerian-telecom-consumer/

In the month in which the Wannacry Ransomware virus ravaged over 200, 000 systems majorly in Europe, America and Asia to keep the cyberworld on red alert, Nigerian officials took time out to attend the Gulf Information Security Expo and Conference (GISEC), the Internet of Things Expo (IoTx), The Big Data Show and the Gulf Enterprise Mobility Exhibition and Conference (GEMEC) all converging as a three-day event inside the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) from May 21-23, 2017.

Led by Honourable Mohammed Ogoshi Onawo, Chairman, House Committee on ICT, and Alhaji Yusuf Kazaure, CEO of Galaxy Backbone Limited, the connectivity solutions company that manages all government digital access, the mix of legislators and technical services team was able to have insights into “ground-breaking technologies, game-changing plenary talks, and experience ready-to-market inventions that will disrupt the future of how we work, connect and live.”

The three day event was a gathering of “developers, programmers and enterprise architects, as well as government departments, major international blue-chip companies and thousands of SMEs exploring the next generation of pipeline technologies to boost their fledgling businesses.” The event showcases products like space to security systems and technologies, security services, security alerts and earning systems and all associated with the security industry.

For the Nigerian delegation, it was a platform to learn, to share and to seek ways of deepening Nigeria’s participation not only in global IT space as mere consumers but also as solution providers particularly in the connectivity, disruptive and internet security sub-sectors.


read more on http://itedgenews.ng/2017/05/24/onawo-kazaure-explore-synergies-connectivity-security-gisec-iotx-2017/

Facebook says this feature is now rolled out to 100% of group admins globally. A Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch:

“Screening new membership requests requires time and legwork for admins – particularly for groups built around focused passions or purpose. For these groups, admins typically have specific criteria they require before admitting new members. Establishing these open-ended questions enables them to more quickly review and approve member requests; in turn, people seeking communities of support or shared interest can more quickly connect with others.”

Yea, Like I said before… a job interview… if you don’t meet up with the requirements, your request will not be accepted.

But why is Facebook doing this?

Well, back in February, Zuckerberg promised to build the online community by improving admin tools for Facebook Groups. He wrote that “One of the things that we’ve seen in online communities, but also including offline communities, is that having an engaged and talented leader is one of the key things for making a strong community … but right now our Groups product hasn’t really been built to facilitate the leaders.

read more on https://itedgenews.ng/2017/05/15/facebook-groups-can-now-screen-new-members-with-a-questionnaire/

In terms of gambling frequency, Kenya also recorded the highest number of youths who have participated in gambling or betting in the past at 76%, followed by Uganda at 57%. Ghana had the least number at 42%.

In terms of Sports betting, football betting reigns in all countries except in South Africa. From the survey, lotteries are a more preferred gambling choice compared to football, casino, racing and poker in South Africa. Kenyan youths bet the most with 79% of bets placed on football matches.

In terms of Mobile usage, 75% of those who bet do use their mobile phones in Sub-Sahara Africa. At 96%, Kenya had the highest number of youths who used their mobile phones for gambling. South Africa, though having the highest rate of mobile penetration in Africa, has the lowest usage of the mobile for gambling at 48%.

https://itedgenews.ng/2017/05/11/mobile-gambling-in-africa-kenya-ranks-no-1/

Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital of over 15 million people is logging its residents into cyberspace with free wifi services as part of its smart city initiative and a highlight of its 50th anniversary ceremony.

The Lagos State government in partnership with MainOne has unveiled free wifi services in parks around Lagos; starting with Ndubuisi Kanu Park, located at Alausa, Ikeja, while plans unfold to make free internet access facility available in all the city’s parks.

The Executive Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode who was represented by the Honorable Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr. Olufemi Odubiyi at a ceremony to mark the event said one of the overriding policy objectives of his administration was to build a globally competitive economy and achieving this would entail keying into new ways of doing things and the deployment of technology, especially the internet.

“It is consistent with our commitment to make Lagos work for all. Parks and gardens have been established in different parts of the state to provide a conducive environment for recreation and relaxation. Just last week, the number of gardens and parks in the state increased with the opening of the Badagry Park,” he said.

read more on https://itedgenews.ng/2017/05/13/lagos-logs-into-free-internet/

71% of African CEOs say they are concerned about cyber threats
Africa’s CEOs are confident that the outlook for business on the continent remains positive notwithstanding the unpredictable economic and socio-political climate. PwC’s (www.PwC.com) Africa Business Agenda report shows that 85% of African CEOs (Global: 85%) are confident in their own company’s prospects for revenue growth over the next 12 months. Despite the fact that only 30% of CEOs in Africa (Global: 29%) believe the global economy will improve in the next year, no less than 97% (Global: 91%) are confident about the prospects for their own company’s growth in the medium term.
Hein Boegman, CEO for PwC Africa, says: “This level of optimism is the highest recorded since we started our research on Africa CEOs in 2012. However, in the past year we have seen a change in the outlook for some countries as external developments impact many of the drivers of Africa’s growth.

“As countries around the globe try to make sense of the increased levels of risk and uncertainty that have gripped the world, Africa needs to continue rising by capitalising on all the opportunities that lie ahead.”

The report suggests that one of the reasons for such optimism on the Africa continent is that CEOs have learned to look for the upside and seize on opportunities that may arise in the face of uncertainty. In the wake of climate of muted growth, CEOs have also acknowledged that while they focus on organic growth and cost reductions, they also need to prioritise investment in new strategic alliances and joint ventures to expand their markets and grow their customer bases. According to the survey, organic growth (Africa: 80%; Global: 79%) and new alliances (Africa: 69%; Global: 48%) are the top activities CEOs are planning in order to drive corporate growth or profitability.

read more on https://itedgenews.ng/2017/05/13/technology-has-improved-ease-of-doing-business-in-africa/

“We are pleased to once again play a leading role in empowering Nigerians with world class data services, helping to close the digital divide. In the last one and a half years, the people of this great country have spoken repeatedly by making Globacom the largest data network in new subscriptions. The best we can do for our people who believe in us and made us their number one data network is to give them the best technology. What we are offering is the new speed of life,” said Kamaldeen Shonibare, Head of Corporate Sales, Globacom.

Subscribers in major cities across the country, including Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja as well as Jos, Warri, Eket, Benin City, Yola and Zaria will have the opportunity to connect to the Glo 4G LTE network immediately, while according to thecompany services will be extended to other major areas in a short period of time.

Additionally, Globacom has also unveiled a set of 4G data tariff plan to enable all categories of subscribers have access to the grand breaking products and services, though not really different from the 3G data plans already available to consumers but are bundled in a 4G LTE data service . Under the new plan, subscribers will get a whopping 1.6GB of data for N500, while N1000 will give them 3.2GB data. Other exciting offers include 7.5GB for N2000, 10GB for N2, 500, 18GB for N4000 and 24GB for N5000. The benefits also include free access to thousands of music, video and movie on demand while the data plan range from N50 to N18, 000 for the benefit of all.

read more on https://itedgenews.ng/2016/10/28/globacom-excites-nigerian-market-with-national-4g-lte-network/

MTN Nigeria which recently disengaged 280 long-serving staff; about 16% of its workforce as part of the company’s restructuring plans, may further cut down on staff strength for its Nigerian operations. No thanks to rising OPEX even as Nigeria’s economy struggles with recession.

Sacked staff said the action came as a shock. They had no prior notice although rumours were rife of an imminent staff cut. Even after laying off 280 staff members, there are fears among unaffected staff they could be asked to go.

Still feeling the brunt of a $5.2 billion unprecedented fine imposed in October 2015 by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for not meeting the deadline to disconnect the Subscribers Identification Modules (SIM) with improper registration, MTN has been battling with maintaining its share value, market strength and plummeting profits.

Although the fine was reduced to $3.2 billion (a 330 billion Naira) after strong diplomatic measure between the Nigerian and South African governments, the company is yet to overcome its corporate demons even after the resignation of top management members of its Nigerian and South Africa operations including the chief executive officer, Sifiso Dabengwa, the Head of Nigeria Operation, Micheal Ikpoki and the Head of Cooperate Affairs, Akinwale Goodluck.

read more on https://itedgenews.ng/2017/05/05/further-staff-downsizing-likely-as-mtn-struggles-to-tame-setbacks/

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has inducted new members into its Anti- Corruption Committee and transparency Unit, set up by the Director General of NITDA, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami for implementing the whistle blowing initiative in the agency.

The Chairman of NITDA’s Anti – Corruption and transparency Unit, Mr Sarafa Lawal speaking during the induction ceremony in honor of the new inductees applauded Dr Pantami for implementing the whistle blowing initiative in the agency, which will aid transparency in all the activities operating within the borders of the organisation.

Lawal expressed appreciation to Dr Pantami for living up to his words quoted during his inaugural speech when he assumed office to lead NITDA: “I am allergic to corrupt practices and favouratism.”


He also commended Dr Pantami for restructuring the agency with the zeal to deliver more effectively and efficiently within the stipulated mandate of NITDA channeled towards a swift growth and development of the IT sector of the country.

read more on https://itedgenews.ng/2017/05/05/nitda-inducts-news-members-into-anti-corruption-unit/

CNN’s presenter, Richard Quest who is famously known with theme business features: Quest Means Business on CNN, believes technology, more than any other thing else, holds the key for creating new wealth among Nigeria’s string population of young people even as the country battles to get out of recession,

Quest was in Nigeria recently and spoke with top decision makers including ministers and industry leaders in the banking and oil industries. His findings are already running on the global satellite network as ‘Nigerian Crossroads.’

Impressed with Nigeria’s love and use of technology in spite of infrastructure challenges, Quest said Africa’s most populated country of 190 million people needs to leverage on technology to widen opportunities for more people at the lower and middle class brackets.

read more on https://itedgenews.ng/2017/05/05/technology-can-create-wealth-for-nigeria-richard-quest/

What are the challenges of doing IT business in Nigeria?

Honestly,there are so many challenges you will encounter when venturing into the IT business. But the challenges are just like an experience which will show you how to do things better as you evolve; and that’s if you are ready to change. Funding was a challenge when we started but gradually we sourced for funds from several avenue and we started building Smartweb but now that’s a thing of the past. Then in-house challenges too with the staff in terms of maybe you put some standard for the quality of services you want to give your customers and maybe your staff are not cooperating, so there are a lot of challenges. You have to monitor, supervise personnel or else your operation comes to its knees. Apart from that, there was a time we didn’t have software developers and we had some issues with some of our software, so it was a lot of challenges for us and we had to think twice before we employed some software developers to work with us. From time to time, you definitely will encounter challenges but the best thing is being able to address those challenges effectively as they arise.

Are you in any form of collaboration with the public sector?

We will like to work with them, but there are a lot of bureaucracies that come with working with the government. For example, there was a time we were trying to work with some states in implementing the TSA but we found it very difficult and it wasn’t easy because of this bureaucracy. So if you want to work with them you have to be a very patient person and keep following them.

So you have nothing doing with the public sector?

Well, not that much. We try to see how we can work with them,some of the government organizations are hosting with us presently like Kano State,Gombe State and some parastatals here in Plateau State. But, so far so good we don’t have any issue with them,but that’s our relationship with them right now. We expect things to pick as government is getting more aware and is deploying IT.

read more on https://itedgenews.ng/2017/05/05/the-business-of-it-smartweb/

The African Centre for Statistics at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has launched the Africa Data Revolution Report 2016, a biennial report highlighting developments in African national data ecosystems.

The 2016 edition is the inaugural Africa Data Revolution Report (ADRR) published by the ECA in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Open Data for Development and the World Wide Web Foundation.

The first ADRR focuses on mapping the data ecosystem in Africa with reference to the production, distribution and use of data by public, private and civil society actors, as they relate to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

It draws from in-depth case studies of national data ecosystems in 10 African countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Swaziland and Tanzania.

“We are very excited about the report because harnessing the on-going data revolution in Africa is crucial to accelerating sustainable development on our continent, among many other things” said African Centre for Statistics Director, Oliver Chinganya.

read more on https://itedgenews.ng/2017/05/05/eca-unveils-inaugural-africa-data-revolution-report/

CNN’s presenter, Richard Quest who is famously known with theme business features:  Quest Means Business on CNN, believes technology, more than any other thing else, holds the key for creating new wealth among Nigeria’s string population of young people even as the country battles to get out of recession.

Continue to read: https://itedgenews.ng/2017/05/05/technology-can-create-wealth-for-nigeria-richard-quest/

It would appear “the academia and governments” in several African countries are lagging in committing to support and grow the startup ecosystem, Heneveld appeared to argue. “But the onus is on startups to know where to seek for support,” he said.

“Mettā is a global entrepreneurs club and has focused on providing the meeting point for startups across the continent, to network with their peers outside the continent, get exposures, training and market by leveraging on the global strength of Mettā an entrepreneurs’ club that connects people, ideas, and resources said Head of Membership & Community at Mettā, Kenya, Ms Safina Hofmann.

“Startups go through extremely tedious growth curve particularly when they exist in countries with poor infrastructures or are far away from centres that serve as commercial or administrative nerve centre,” said Daser David, co-founder of nHub in Jos, central Nigeria. While speaking on the experience of managing a hub outside of Lagos, David said the challenges are enormously against the entrepreneur who has little or no support from the government.

nHub which provides complete incubation facility, startup acceleration programs, mentorship, and a training academy in Jos has been in the front of pushing the startup agenda in north of Nigeria. “Our experience has shown that private efforts can drive the ecosystem but government support remains a critical element for growth,” said David.

Except for few African countries most African governments are slow to accepting the Startup Ecosystem as veritable means of economic development” said Olusegun Oruame, CEO of Qitech Technologies Limited. But African startups have remained resilient as the Nigerian example would prove where startups are largely privately driven like the film industry, Nollywood which now enjoys global attention.”

read more on https://itedgenews.ng/2017/04/25/nairobi-forum-harps-on-creating-support-frameworks-for-african-startups/

The 84th Consumer Outreach Program (COP) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) held recently in Gwagwalada, Abuja with the fitting theme: “Information and Education as Catalyst for Consumer Protection.

The theme is to further affirm 2017 as Year of Telecom Consumer as the NCC intensifies its education and sensitization of consumers on their rights to dial the toll free number 622 to express complaints against service operators and also use the DND (Do Not Disturb) code 2442 to halt irritating, unsolicited telemarketing messages from operators and other content providers who ride the platform of Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).

According to the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta , who was represented by the Deputy Director, Information and Reference Unit, Mr. Ismail Adedidga the outreach was aimed at bridging the gap between consumers and operators in telecom services as the consumer is a force be reckoned with in the telecom industry and has rights.

The Consumer Outreach Programme is one of the initiatives of the Commission designed to create campaigns and to heighten sensitization around key challenges of the telecom consumer, and to enlighten the consumer of his rights and privileges.

read more on https://itedgenews.ng/2017/04/26/ncc-deepens-campaign-to-educate-consumers-on-their-rights/

Instagram has followed the footsteps of Twitter, Facebook, Google and Microsoft to provide a better experience for users with limited network connectivity. The Facebook-owned Company has added an offline mode, that will cater significantly to 80% of its users (600 million users) outside the United States.

This was announced at the Facebook F8 developer conference, where Instagram said the offline mode allows for the liking of photos, comments, saving, following and unfollowing. When a data connection is re-established, the actions made will be uploaded to Instagram’s servers. Screenshots from Android Police show the app providing messages saying you’re offline and the actions will be “updated when you’re connected”. This means posts and comments can be made when browsing the app but they will only be uploaded when there is a data connection – either through mobile networks or Wi-Fi.

Instagram’s offline mode works the same way with Facebook’s where you may have seen the message that says “you can still post while offline” when using the social network. There isn’t support for Instagram stories at present, which may be due to a large amount of data used by the feature.

read more on https://itedgenews.ng/2017/04/24/instagram-goes-offline-on-android-phones/

According to Buzzfeed, the service was developed last year by a team in India alongside a messaging app for emerging markets but it appeared to have been set aside.

TechCrunch first wrote about the potential for Twitter Lite back in 2009, when Facebook’s first version of its Lite app was announced, so this introduction is long, long overdue.

In other words, Twitter is not the first social media platform to launch a ‘lite’ offering. Except for the fact that it is browser-based (mobile.twitter.com), it is similar to other ‘Lite’ apps that are specially created for emerging markets.

In details, Facebook launched a pared down version of its core app in June 2015, which hit 200 million users earlier in 2017. The company also introduced a slimline variety of its Messenger service. Microsoft took the same approach for Skype in February 2017.

read more on https://itedgenews.ng/2017/04/24/twitter-struggles-to-stay-afloat-in-emerging-markets-launches-its-lite-mobile-web-app/

All mobile site developers get in here. Google has launched a new certification program for you to refer to yourselves “as Google accredited mobile site developers.” Google has noted that this certification will be listed on your partners’ profile as a sign to potential clients that you are considered “an expert in mobile site optimization” by Google.

To gain certification, you will need to pass an exam that covers everything from the basics of why mobile sites matter to how to improve mobile site speed, effective mobile UX design and more advanced topics like progressive web apps.

Google explained that the reason for the focus on speed is that from their observations, they have seen that majority of mobile site visitors leave a site if it takes more than three seconds to load, yet the average load time for a mobile landing page is 22 seconds (and if those users leave without ever fully loading the site, they aren’t likely to click on any Google ads either, of course).

read more on https://itedgenews.ng/2017/04/24/google-launches-new-certification-programme-for-mobile-site-developers/

NEWS RELEASE

The DSA welcomes South Africa’s ICASA publishing draft TVWhite Space regulations as both prepare to jointly host the 2017 Dynamic Spectrum Alliance Global Summit in Cape Town in May

Federal Communications Commission (FCC), ICASA, OPIC,IFC, Microsoft Corporation, HP Enterprise, International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and more set to speak at leading spectrum sharing conference

Cape Town, South Africa, 20 April 2017: With three weeks to go until the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance’s Fifth Annual Global Summit, which is this year returning to Africa, co-host ICASA, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, has published draft regulations on the use of TV White Space (TVWS) in the region.

The draft regulations, which are open for public consultation until 19 May 2017, highlight the progress South Africa is making in enabling affordable Internet through dynamic spectrum access. These draft regulations – which the DSA fully welcomes – and technologies will be discussed at the DSA Global Summit, taking place in Cape Town between 9 to 11 May 2017, where a whole host of leading industry figures and regulators from around the world have been announced to speak, including the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

read more on https://itedgenews.ng/2017/04/21/the-dsa-welcomes-south-africas-icasa-publishing-draft-tvwhite-space-regulations/

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is to commercialise some of its ICT infrastructures as part of an overall business plan to expand the portfolio of services by the oil giant as well as assist in helping the country to achieve her National Broadband Plan (NBP). The NBP targets a 30% broadband penetration by 2020.

This was made public by the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru during a meeting held recently at the NNPC Towers in Abuja with the Minister of Communications, Barr. Adebayo Shittu.

According to him, the ICT infrastructure up for commercialization include over 960 kilometres of fiber optic cable laid between Lagos, Benin, Warri, and to Kaduna on the NNPC pipeline Right of Way (ROW), 52 remote Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) stations nationwide and two network centres connecting all NNPC depots and pump stations in Nigeria.

“Our look-ahead plan is to commercialise our fibre optics cable network utilising NNPC pipeline Right of Way that cuts across the entire country. Some of the benefits of this initiative include the opportunity to provide backbone carriage to meet the national 2020 plan for broadband penetration in the country,” Baru said.

read more on https://itedgenews.ng/2017/04/21/nnpc-to-commercialize-ict-infrastructures-to-achieve-national-broadband-plan/

Seven Nigerian young students have been selected to represent the country at the FIRST Global Robot Olympics slated to hold in Washington DC, USA.

The students; Ayomide Adetunji, Oluwateisimi Adegbamigbe, Umar Ayodeji Fahad, Omotayo Oluwaseun, Toluwalase Agoro, Tawakalitu Giwa and Adeniji Talabi were selected from secondary schools within Lagos. They will be competing with students from 149 countries.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Global, Founded by philanthropic inventor, Dean Kamen, is an Olympics-style robotics event that drives home the importance of obtaining the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics skills needed by young people to overcome the greatest challenges facing our world now and in future.

According to Mrs. Remi Willoughby, the coordinator of the FIRST Global project in Nigeria who lamented the increasing deficit in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in the Nation’s educational system called on the government bridge this gap by looking at ways to encourage students in secondary and tertiary institutions to venture into these courses.

read more on https://itedgenews.ng/2017/04/21/1518/

The social network giant, Facebook has announced its upcoming projects focused on building new capabilities for communication which will allow users type through their minds and hear with their skin. A technology that could let people fire off text messages or emails by thinking, instead of needing to interrupt what they are doing to use smartphone touchscreens, for example.

The projects were unveiled recently at Facebook’s F8 developer conference.

Facebook’s VP of Engineering, Regina Dugan while addressing participants at the Conference quizzed how interesting it will be if we could all type directly from our brain into a computer.

Her words: “Speech is essentially a compression algorithm and a lousy one at that. That is why we love great writers and poets because they are just a little bit better at compressing the fullness of a thought into words. What if we could type directly from our brain into a computer?” Dugan is tasked with building F8 which is responsible for coming up with innovative hardware for the social network’s mission of connecting the world.

read more on https://itedgenews.ng/2017/04/21/facebook-wants-to-let-you-type-with-your-brain-and-hear-with-your-skin/

The social network giant, Facebook has announced its upcoming projects focused on building new capabilities for communication which will allow users type through their minds and hear with their skin . A technology that could let people fire off text messages or emails by thinking, instead of needing to interrupt what they are doing to use smartphone touchscreens, for example.

The projects were unveiled recently at Facebook’s F8 developer conference.

Read more at https://itedgenews.ng/2017/04/21/facebook-wants-to-let-you-type-with-your-brain-and-hear-with-your-skin/

Seven Nigerian young students have been selected to represent the country at the FIRST Global Robot Olympics slated to hold in Washington DC, USA.

The students; Ayomide Adetunji, Oluwateisimi Adegbamigbe, Umar Ayodeji Fahad, Omotayo Oluwaseun, Toluwalase Agoro, Tawakalitu Giwa and Adeniji Talabi were selected from secondary schools within  Lagos. They will be competing with students from 149 countries.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Global,   Founded by philanthropic inventor, Dean Kamen,  is an Olympics-style robotics event that drives home the importance of obtaining the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics skills needed by young people to overcome the greatest challenges facing our world now and in future.

Read more: https://itedgenews.ng/2017/04/21/1518/