Telecommunication Technology: Issues and Trends In West Africa

We Have been in a cooler as to the changes that are taking place all around us today. Millions and millions of transactions are taking place within the global space unhindered by time and space which used to be a stumbling block to mankind. Today, things have changed and we now have one global community driven by knowledge, products and services. Amongst these three, knowledge is the king and the reigning stuff today. There is the place of hard products and services. No one will discountenance there place anytime . But knowledge has become the main driving force in today’s business and commerce and as it has always been the case, Africa is losing out of this space ,and nothing seems to be done in terms of policy, program or a clear directed goal either at governmental level or at non governmental organizations to get this going. The internet has become the main work place, the greatest university, the biggest market place, and the biggest financial institution globally. The main drivin

At there advent, smart phones were mere status symbols, if you like what separates the boys from the men. Things have changed though. Smartphone’s has become a working tool for the average professional, sales persons, field service men and men on the move. Students are also becoming increasingly in need of smart Phones. So just why are Smart Phones increasing in popularity and a must have? The first point to look at is that we have become a Mobile Generation Perhaps, at no time in human history has men and women, young and old, politicians and so on, become so mobile as at today. Now these motilities are a global phenomenon. It is not localized neither is it triggered by war or famine but for the fact that we have simply become a globalised village. And men must keep in touch with there base, clients and workplace while on the move. The second point is the internet revolutions You cannot be effectively productive today without a clear understanding and the use of the internet. As a mat

Well it is not news again to know that Nigeria is Africa’s largest telecoms market right now, with about 67m subscribers at the close of second quarter of 2009, it has clearly overtaking South Africa. Yet the penetration still hovers around 45%. This is industry is therefore very important not only to the average man on the streets but also for the government in terms of revenue generation and employment creation. What is doubtful however is the percentage of this revenue is generated that stays in the country as well as the percentage and value of jobs created that benefits Nigerians directly. There is an obvious infrastructure decay in the Nigeria Space, whether you are talking about roads, power generation, transportation system and the basic infrastructure upon which the telecoms industry rides on like backbone, towers etc . These things are not just there and it appears there is no clear road map that the government is following to provide them. Today I will like to examine the is

This question has been on my mind for a while and I have been pondering on this universal phenomenon. I have wondered how it applies to an individual and to a nation as a whole. It is my candid opinion that this mathematical identity is true in all cases namely: Change (C) =F(space, time , attitude). This is a function which has a unique solution since we know that change itself must come. When it will we do not know for sure. However, it appears to me that the tensor which guarantees the existence of this change in a given spacetime metric is a universal one and evenly distributed. This function applies to the individual as well as to a nation, though a lot more complex at the individual level because of the variableness imposed on the Euclidian space for an individual, which is a constant at the national level, baring wars or extreme situations, where national boundaries contract or expand as can be in the Nigerian space over Bakassi peninsula. It is my opinion that this identity i

It’s been inspiring to watch ZTE, since I came in contact with the company in 2003. I have watched her move from unknown Chinese enterprise to a global player. I have watched her make inroads into traditional strong holds of companies that far exceed its age and name. I have watch her bestrode the global telecommunication landscape like a colossus capturing lands and domains far away from its traditional territory. Domains long held by well known Americans and European companies. I have simply watched with admiration and attention, often wandering where these growth and conquest will eventually lead to. I have also advocated her styles and system as an example to us in Nigeria, as we aspire to be a global player in the world economic stage come 2020. A style that calls for devotion to ones duty, love for what you do, and who you represent (The enterprise), hardwork with an untiring spirit that says “We can”. What then is the secret of this growth for a company that started small 25 yea

Hello I have been on a long long holiday you know, so I haven’t had time to update my blog lately. But today we will go technical and that will be on signaling system 7. I have had a series of delays in releasing this series. Anybody who has attempted to write a book will notice a lot of unexpected delays, here and there. Either that some drawings won’t just find its way as expected or the designer is not keeping up to date or you are unexpectedly out of fund to meet some obligation. It is neither here nor there. But one page at a time maybe all you need to get through. So this is what I have just adopted here. Let’s look at the concept of Signaling first Signaling You remember the old railway signals on the railway junction crossings? Ok, I hope you do. The whole idea is to signal incoming traffic that a train is coming and that they need to wait to avoid a collision with the train. Hopefully you never experience one of such horrific accidents that occurred in those days as a result o

Situation Overview ZTE is the largest publicly traded telecommunications equipment manufacturer from China. The company manufactures and supplies a broad range of wireless and fixed network equipment, having sold systems to service providers in China as well as international markets. In the wireless realm, its portfolio spans infrastructure and devices based on GSM/UMTS, Personal Handyphone System (PHS), WiMAX, and CDMA technologies. On March 25 and 26, 2009, the company held its Fifth Annual Analyst Conference in Shenzhen, PRC. Despite weak global economic conditions, ZTE delivered strong results, expanding further into international markets while strengthening its overall position in China. ZTE top line revenues grew over 27% to nearly RMB 44.3 billion in 2008, up RMB 9.5 billion from the 2007 level of RMB 34.8 billion (see Figure 1). Profits before income taxes also grew, expanding from RMB 1.7 billion to RMB 2.3 billion for a slightly faster 31% rate of growth. This rate of expansi

Why am I so optimistic about the prospects of a wireless Internet boom in Nigeria? In my last post, I have already talked about the Nigerian spirit, his doggedness, his aptitude and hard work and his zeal to bootstrap himself out of poverty. This is a major driving force. Needless to say that the internet boom itself translate to a lot of wealth creation and poverty reduction. Once we have a low total cost of ownership for both the terminal devices and a broadband internet connection, the Nigerian market will experience a boom. In addition to this I am looking at some policy frameworks that are ongoing; the e-payment system by the government and the e-solutions the banks and other financial institutions are introducing. The NCC has also put together a robust regulatory framework to this regard and is pushing for an internet for all schemes. What remains now is to accelerate this processes in addition to a strong legal framework so that if you 419 me through the e-system I can sue your

In pursuit of my argument last week in favor of new investment in Value Addition in the West African Telecoms market with emphasis on Nigeria, it is my goal today to look at the uniqueness of the Nigerian Market itself. Nigerian itself is a unique Country. By virtue of all that has happened and is still happening, we should have been a banana republic by now, but it hasn’t happened and that in itself is a marvel. How come a nation of over 140 Million people without power supply without effective government, without health facilities, roads , discernable transport system, failed education system etc…. and the list goes on, including endemic corruption; still exist as an somewhat organized society with effective economic activities and commerce? I don’t pretend to have answers to these questions. But from hindsight, I intend to provide what I know, with the hope that the reader may understand why this state still crawls on. Now, the average Nigerian is a resilient personality, hardworkin

Hello Again! Last time I was looking at where the market will be going in the Nigerian telecoms market and I predicted that the next gold mine will be Value addition with special emphases on Data services. Today I intend to explore this a bit in detail, taking a global look on the market situation in the western sub- region of Africa. Well with little hindsight, I can tell you that the WA is ripe for wireless Data explosion right now and may be the only solution for operators to solve the ever declining ARPU on voice networks. It may sound far fetched giving the poverty situation within the sub region but statistics on ground supports my views here. The sub region is beset with a lot of decayed infrastructure, from poor road networks to poor power supply, but it has shown resilience in supporting the wireless market as current experience has shown. The next push therefore is to bring internet to the doorstep of every home in Nigeria as the clear leader and the entire sub region. NCC is

Market Trends in Nigerian’s Telecoms Industry Today Nigerian Population Growth Rate estimate is 3.2% Year Population 2003 127777452 2004 131729332 2005 135803435 2006 140003542 2007 149107131 2008 144483655 2009 153878559 2010 158494915 Woo! That sounds like a whooping 158 M subscribers will become mobile users by the year 2010 in Nigeria Hey! wait a minute and take a critical look at the analysis provided by these guys Ok. : http://www.businessmonitor.com/ Don’t forget this had facts The income distribution in Nigeria is uneven; with over 70% under national poverty line, 70% of unemployment and a national GNI per capital of $930, realizing such subscriber number will be a tall dream. So where will the next money spinning stuff come from? Big question ! and I think I do have an idea. The Nigeria Telecommunications Report Business Monitor International's Nigeria Telecommunications Report provides industry professionals and researchers, operators, equipment su

Problems associated with a Multi-vendor Environment and How to deal with it in a Cellular Network. In today’s networks, whether GSM, WCDMA and CDMA whether it is 3G or 2G, there are a number of challenges arising when a particular operator chooses multiple vendors to supply its telecoms equipment. Ideally, there should be a smooth and seamless interconnection amongst the vendors going by the standardization of almost all the interfaces. In practice, this seamless interconnection faces a number of challenges which I intend to discuss here. I will like to categorize these problems as arising from 1. A interface problems 2. MSC-MSC connection problems 3. IN problems 4. HLR issues A- Interface Problems When vendor A’s MSC connects to Vendor B’s BSC a number of issues arise from this connection. Ordinarily, the A interface is a standard interface and this should not pose a problem at all. But there exist some. Below is a typical GSM network and I will use this for this discussion. A typical

THIS HOUSE SHALL NOT STAND An apparent look on houses in Lekki and former Maroko area of VI in Lagos Nigeria depicts beauty on the outside but the foundations of most of this houses where built on shifting sands and it only takes an underground rumble for this houses to come tumbling. Such is the future of houses built on shifting sands. This house Nigeria is built not on a solid foundation but on shifting sand, it will therefore not stand. The leaders go about believing themselves, there programs and pride yet they are building on sand. This country is a fraud and cannot stand. It may well be the rumbles have already started- The Niger Delta war. All Men under God are created equal and share common humanity. This is the fundamental principle on which true leadership stems from. Here it is different. Some believe they are created to be governed others believe that it is their Devine right to govern and so must govern even if they are knots upstairs. No Nation can st

Today the slogan is no more “Nigeeeeeeriaaaaaaaa the heart of Africa ” , but a new slogan has emerged. They call it Re-branding Nigeria. I insist that our policy and decision makers need proper medical examination for us to properly situate them really. The more I ponder, the more I come to the conclusion that we need expert psychiatrists, possible from abroad including Ghana to examine our ministers and would be political office holders. What on earth is the matter with our leaders? What is there to re-brand really? Does painting an emulsion white on a grave stop it from being a place of rotten bones? I wonder what the minister wants us to believe. I think she should save us the insult. A nation with no clear record of its youth unemployment especially graduates, simply because it is mind boggling, nation that is the second largest importer of rice in the world to feed its population but with vast amount of uncultivated lands, a nation where hunger pervades eve

Hello again It is my intention to continue with the problems of communication in Nigeria. Let’s leave the issue of Nicomsat alone for it should be consigned to history. I simply cannot comprehend why a country that cannot boast of six hours of constant electricity and 70% of graduate unemployment, 65% of population below poverty line, etc etc, should be spending such huge sums of money simply on waste, just for the sake of some egoistic impression that Nigeria has joined the league of space science nations. I think that we should be re-examining the mental state of some of our decision makers. The other day the MD of Nicomsat announced that they have invented a web based access control. Hmmmmmmmm. Did you say “invented”? Well a friend of mine told me that the so called announced technology is a 1980 technology. But come to think of it what concerns a satellite development or “inventing” company with a web based access control? Or is it a case of cheap publicity as Bayero Agabi has been