MTN named top African corporate brand

By Prince Osuagwu

MTN has been named the African most valued consumer brand, by the BrandFinance African Nation Brand League. The telecommunications giant bagged this award at the launch of the League’s 4th awards and the launch of the first BrandFinance African Nation Brand League in Johannesburg recently.
The BrandFinance Global Nation Brands league covered a global sample of 138 nation brands, including 36 African nations.  The top 10 countries in Africa were South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria, Angola, Tunisia, Ghana, Kenya and Libya.
“MTN’s ranking as Africa’s most valued consumer brand is a pleasant Africa Day surprise for MTN, and news of the accolade will be well received across our global footprint, especially in Africa where we are equally the most admired brand and leading corporate in the vast majority of our markets,” says MTN Marketing Executive, Jennifer Roberti.
Coming hot on the heels of being included as the only African brand in the 2011 BrandFinance Global 500 league table, the latest accolade bears testament to our Africa and marketing know-how.
“This shows the phenomenal growth of the MTN business in most operations, whether measured in terms of value share or subscriber numbers – for example nearly 70% of MTN’s total subscribers are in African markets, with Nigeria contributing 40.2 million, Ghana 9 million, South Africa 19 million and Uganda 6.9 million and Cote d’Ivoire 5.4 million,” says Roberti.
MTN is Africa’s leading mobile operator, with 147.2 million subscribers on the continent and in the Middle East.

Main One extends global footprint with Global Crossing partnership

Funke Opeke, MainOne boss

By Prince Osuagwu

Main One Cable Company, the open access wholesale provider, has announced its decision to deploy a new portfolio of IP-enabled services and has chosen to partner with Global Crossing ,a leading global IP solutions provider, in order to bring global connectivity to its clients. This strategic agreement will enable Main One to further extend its customers connectivity in countries where it doesn’t have coverage by being part of the Global Crossing Tier 1 MPLS network.

This network, reaches more than 700 cities in more than 70 countries. and it would  enable MainOne customers  to extend their connectivity through across the US, Canadian and Latin American markets.   

In addition to expanding Main One’s reach, the partnership will increase flexibility with its new set of products and provide significantly reduced transit charges for customer terminations.

According to Main One’s head of Marketing and Strategy, Adebayo Oyewole, “We chose Global Crossing for its particular regional strengths. Our partnership with Global Crossing enhances Main One’s position as the one-stop shop for accessing the public Internet via the Main One network, which is designed for high capacity service. The new product portfolio enables Main One to deliver a wide range of connectivity options to geographically dispersed locations, while reducing customers’ costs by converging previously disparate data, voice and video networks. 

With the partnership now, customers can actually start small and grow with confidence because of the opportunity of tuning in to the fast changing needs of the 21st century

Main One joins a select list of top-tier service providers offering Global Crossing Fast-Track Services portfolio to their enterprise end users. In addition to Converged IP Services and Private Line, Fast-Track Services include Ethernet, Collaboration and Managed Services.

Perhaps that is why Global Crossing’s head of Carrier Sales for South Europe, Middle East and Africa Habib Issa, said: “We’re very pleased to join with Main One in offering its customers global access and IP-based solutions" adding that “Global Crossing Fast-Track Services combine the business processes, products, services and system tools necessary for service providers to quickly offer their enterprise customers end-to-end global data solutions, backed by consistent Service Level Agreements.”

NCC says SIM registration key to Number Portability

SIM Cards

By Prince Osuagwu

Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management at the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Mr. Okechukwu Otanyi, has admonished Nigerian mobile phone subscribers to endeavour to register their SIM Cards as that will determine the introduction of Number Portability. 

Number Portability is a popular system which allows subscribers to move to any network of their choice while still retaining their loved numbers.  Nigerians have long awaited its introduction into Nigeria's telecom market .

Itanyi who spoke at the Consumer Outreach Programme, hosted by the Commission in Makun, Sagamu in Ogun State, said the forum provides an opportunity to request for the maximum cooperation of all subscribers, service providers and all the stakeholders to ensure the success of the ongoing SIM registration.

At the event at the Ewusi Palace hall where the Baale of Makun, Chief Ola Atobatele, represented the Oba, Mr. Itanyi said that the success of this exercise will determine the time from for the introduction of Number Portability.

”It must be noted that at this point that a credible database of all SIM Cards in the country is a basic pre-requisite for the introduction of Number Portability in the country”.

He emphasized that the SIM card registration process involves the capturing of digital photographs and biometric information of the subscribers. “The essence of exercise is to link every SIM Card to the identity of the owners so that if there are threat calls from a particular SIM Card, or  crime is committed using a particular mobile phone for instance, chances are that the identity of the owner  of the SIM card could be traced”, he said.

He said the security importance of the ongoing registration makes it a civic responsibility of all citizens to register their SIM Cards, saying the number of centres being deployed by the Commission will continue to increase by the day as subscribers in all nooks and crannies of the country will be registered before  the end of SIM registration on September 28, 2011.

Director of Consumer Affairs of NCC, Mrs. Mary Uduma, reiterated the need for subscribers to complain to NCC whenever the telecom operators do not respond to their complaints.

She said the Commission is working had to ensure that the operators do not take advantage of the consumers. He urged them to ensure that their SIM cards are registered to make them authentic owners of those lines.

Meanwhile, the SIM card registration campaign of the Commission continued nationwide with jingles radio and TV stations across the country. The Commission said that the number of centres across the country will continue to grow and that subscriber are free to register with either of the NCC appointed vendors or telecom operators.

Ghana, Nigeria for mobile banking revolution

By Prince Osuagwu

Knowing that what generates from Nigeria, spreads across the West African region like wild fire, the recent attempt by Nigeria’s Central Bank, CBN to license mobile money companies and as well try out modalities for a cashless society would see West Africans soon experiencing the benefits of mobile banking.

President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria

John-Atta Mills, Ghanaian President

.
This will bring on board, millions of people that have been excluded from financial services, equipping them with opportunities to play in the world mobile money market.
This is not also all there is to the revolution. Another boost to the revolution is the AITEC Banking and Mobile Money conference train now ready to berth Accra, Ghana, next month. The event is expected to draw  world’s top experts on mobile banking just as several countries in the region are merging their rising mobile coverage with financial systems that will allow citizens to use their mobile phones to transact, transfer and store money.
Similar roll-outs in Eastern Africa have transformed the financial sector. Since the launch of Kenya’s M-Pesa mobile money accounts, more than 13 million Kenyans have moved to using their phones to pay for goods, get cash from ATMs, receive payments and hold savings, in a wave that has seen more than half the population now using financial services.
In West Africa, with several platforms now in place, AITEC will be presenting to the region’s top banking managers’ cutting edge options in mobile banking, as well as information on the necessary safe-guards to ensure consumers’ money is kept safe.
In Ghana, MTN rolled out the first mobile money platform in Ghana in 2009, followed by Vodafone and late last year Ecobank announced the launch of mobile bank accounts with the ZAP platform from Zain.
At the same time, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has now issued approval-in-principle licences to 16 mobile money operators to carry out a pilot of a mobile financial services system for a period of four months to demonstrate that the system can work in the country.
With active mobile phones subscriptions in Nigeria at 88.3 million in December last year, experts have highlighted the potential of mobile phones to provide financial services to the more than two-thirds of Nigerians who are unbanked.
According to the Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) report, 67 per cent of Nigeria’s population is unbanked and 78 per cent of the nation’s rural population is without a bank account.
Nigeria’s unbanked rates reflect Africa’s average, with only 20 per cent of African families having bank accounts.
However, with Africa having the fastest growth rates of mobile phone market in the world, the continent is now creating financial solutions that rest on mobile phone platforms. The International Telecommunications Union estimates mobile subscriptions across Africa have more than tripled to 333 million since 2005, and in South Africa, the DRC, Zambia and Kenya, mobile phone banking is now taking services to remote areas where conventional banks have been physically absent.
These subscribers are now opening accounts, checking their balances, paying their bills, transferring money, and catering for their daily financial needs without ever entering a bank.
A survey in Kenya last year reported that over 95 per cent of users rated mobile-based payments as quicker, easier, safer, more convenient and cheaper than any other alternative way of paying or receiving money.
The AITEC conference is expected to present issues on traceability and security in mobile banking, mobile banking via satellite, smart banking applications, and  how best to reach the unbanked with mobile money services, as well as on state-of-the art technology.

Ericsson goes home to manage Telenor Sweden online gaming

Vestberg, Ericsson CEO

By Prince Osuagwu

Ericsson last week announced the signing of a major managed services contract with Telenor Sweden , provider of data and telecommunication services. The three-year contract would see Ericsson managing and developing Telenor Sweden 's field services, including field maintenance and implementation services across its complete fixed and mobile networks.
Ericsson also hopes that through the deal, it will gain valuable competence in the service area and reinforce its services footprint in Sweden and its long-term service commitment in the region.
Meanwhile, with Ericsson’s IMS solution fully poised to play major role in the deal, players of Entropia, an online universe created by Sweden-based online gaming company Mindark, can now speak to each other live with high-quality voice services while gaming.
This is however Ericsson's first commercial business in the gaming sphere. Ericsson is deploying its existing voice technology based on IMS in a cloud service, called Ericsson In-Game Communication, EIGC, which makes it simple and cost-effective to introduce communication into games. Ericsson promises to provide and integrate the software into the Entropia Universe platform.
Mindark provides one of the most advanced Internet interaction solutions available today. Entropia Universe is a 3D virtual world with a real cash economy. It is growing in popularity, with more than one million registered users.
Chief Marketing Officer for Mindark, Christian Björkman , says that “it was important to have a system that is integrated into our own platform because then we could customize the functionality and have security that is required for us, since we deal with real money in our virtual world. The solution from Ericsson provided the best security and flexibility for us”.
With this service, 3D rendering is possible so that gamers will be able to talk and listen to avatars that are nearby, attend or give lectures for an interactive audience, and work in teams with secure leader-controlled access.
Mindark is well-known for placing the world's most expensive virtual item in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Perhaps that was why Björkman added that “this voice service will help us continue our strategy of adding value to the virtual world, plus bridging virtual and real-world possibilities and in terms of business, it would be possible to integrate new services such as break-out services, audio advertising and other voice-based services”.
Ericsson’s Vice President, head of Core & IMS however saw it in a different perspective saying that “this solution bridges the virtual experience with reality, and the telecoms world with the gaming world. It is exciting to combine Ericsson's outstanding competence in communication services with the large and fast-growing gaming industry sector."

Lagos plans transformation to software producer with software engineering institute

Gov Fashola of Lagos state

 


By Prince Osuagwu

The Lagos State Government has said that it is set to establish a software training institute to serve as a medium for achieving the production of reliable software systems and also equip average youth in the State with the functional knowledge and skill needed to transform into an entrepreneur.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Science & Technology, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat disclosed this at a press briefing to commemorate the fourth year in office of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN.
According to Hamzat, the training institute would reduce the cost of purchase of software by the State Government and other States as well.
He stressed that the local production of software will transform Lagos and indeed the entire country from a software consuming State to a software producing/outsourcing State.
The Commissioner added that apart from the institute producing competent hands that can compete in the software development around the world, this will also be an avenue to create young entrepreneurs who will be self reliant and independent without looking for white collar jobs or any employment.
The commissioner also hinted on the youth empowerment programme his Ministry had embarked upon,  disclosing that for three years running, the Ministry had organised an IT based Hands-on –Workshop for the youths.
He said the training consisted of PC Assembling/ Software Installation and Web Site Design, even as about 1,800 youths and school leavers from the 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas in the State had benefitted from the training.
For him, these two courses ran concurrently for a duration of two weeks and were facilitated by registered and certified training outfits in the State”, Dr. Hamzat said.
He further disclosed that the state government had observed that with the advent of GSM in Nigeria there was need to venture into the opportunities available in the industry and it was why the Ministry partnered with Nokia to empower youth across the State in the configuration and repair of the mobile handset. He also revealed that so far, about 500 youths have been trained on that.

Glo doles out cars, other prizes to 3G, Blackberry dealers

Dr Mike Adenuga jr, Glo Chairman

By Prince Osuagwu

Second National Operator, Globacom, last week rewarded dealers on the Glo 3G High Speed Internet modem and prepaid Blackberry services who it considered outstanding, dolling out prizes ranging from brand new cars to power generating sets.
At the end of the day, a total of twelve dealers, comprising six for each of the two product categories, received the prizes at a Loyalty Reward Night held at Best Western Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
For the Glo 3G modem Business Associates Category, Osuneye Olasunkami of Suky Marketing Communication, who was adjudged the best performer, received the top prize of a brand new BMW 5 series car, while another company, Pathfinder Touch won the second prize of 10 KVA generator. Other winners in the category were Genie Infotech Limited who received a 5KVA generator, MCTEE Investments who got a 42-inch plasma television set, Samikuri Details who won a motorcycle and the sixth prize winner BMG Comm who went home with a set of computer, printer and scanner.
The six winners in the prepaid Blackberry category were Olusegun Jekami of MCTEE Investment who won the first prize of a brand new Kia Picanto, Suky Marketing Communication who received a 6.5 KVA generator and GoldBiz Resources who won a 42-inch plasma TV set.
However, Stratford Communication also was rewarded with a motorcycle, while the fifth prize went to Amistad Phones, who received a set of computer, printer and scanner. The sixth prize winner of a 1.5 KVA generator, was Badox Ventures.
Globacom’s Head of 3G and Blackberry Team, Wunmi Jewesimi, said the loyalty reward scheme was instituted to appreciate the business associates for their contribution in making the two flagship products huge successes in the market.
According to him “we are rewarding them for their outstanding performance and at the same time encouraging a healthy competition among all the 3G and Blackberry business associates.
especially for the two products

Etisalat rewards distribution partners

Steve Evans, Etisalat CEO

     


By Prince Osuagwu

Etisalat Nigeria has also concluded plans to host its distribution partners to an award ceremony in Lagos today. Tagged the Etisalat Heroes Awards, the ceremony is the company’s own way of showing its appreciation to its distribution partners who have contributed immensely to its success since the commencement of its business operations, particularly in the last year.
The awards which are in their second year, have been categorized on national and regional basis and will see the awardees walk home with mind-blowing prizes like brand new cars and buses, international trip, Galaxy tabs,  Laptops and Printers, TV sets and many more.
Explaining the rationale for the awards, Etisalat’s Chief Commercial Officer, Wael Ammar said that “the awards is one of the many ways we reward and encourage the symbiotic relationship between Etisalat and its distribution partners which has produced tremendous success in our business. The awards will definitely continue to grow because our distributors and partners are increasing on a daily basis.”
Ammar noted that the annual award is a recognition of the hard work and tenacity of its distribution partners and a demonstration of Etisalat’s commitment to rewarding outstanding performance.
According to him, besides the quality products and efficient services that Etisalat offers, the effort and resilience of its distributors who ensure the products and services are readily available anytime and anywhere, have contributed immensely to the increased subscriber base and business success.
Ammar said this year’s edition of the award, promises to be memorable amongst other things there would be thrilling performances from top Nigerian artistes to make the occasion more relaxed.

Alvarion strengthens its sales team in SA, Nigeria

Avarion Wimax image

By Prince Osuagwu

4G wireless broadband solutions provider Alvarion South Africa, has announced the appointment  of Rudolph Cloete as Pre Sales Manager for the Southern African and Nigerian markets. Cloete’s role will entail giving technical sales support to these regions, ensuring that the company maintains its leading market share.

Cloete brings 21 years of experience in the telecoms industry to Alvarion. His career started as an apprentice for the then Department of Post and Telecommunications, and he went on to hold various positions in Telkom. He is also said to have on  Telkom's dedicated, synchronous data transfer service, Diginet, microwave systems and, in the last 10 years, as a specialist on satellite networks,.

Cloete’s last years at Telkom were spent interacting with customers and the corporate sales team assisting in the technical design, pricing and solution proposals for VSAT networks and. “I excelled at this aspect of the job and felt it was an area within the industry to aspire to. The opportunity at Alvarion came at precisely the right time and I look forward to the challenge,” says Cloete.

Alvarion is the industry’s leading supplier of broadband wireless technologies WiMAX, TD-LTE and WiFi, enabling broadband applications for service providers and enterprises covering a variety of industries. One of Cloete’s first tasks will be getting to know more about these advances in wireless technologies. “I am currently learning more about WiMAX and TD-LTE technologies, but with my extensive technical knowledge and experience I am certain that I will soon be capable of meeting all the requirements that this exciting role demands” he says. 

Cloete has a deep passion for the telecoms industry. “I have always loved being at the forefront of technology,” he reveals. “I was very excited by Africa’s entrance into the mobile market. This has made communication junkies of us all,” he says. “I cannot imagine my children growing up without a mobile connection in their hands.”

Looking to the future, Cloete believes that the consumer, always wanting the newest, fastest and funkiest device, will drive the demand in the telecommunications sector. “I will ensure that I provide the support that Alvarion needs in Africa to meet this demand,” concludes Cloete.

Intel gains 16 % in quarterly cash dividend, draws annual dividend to 84 cents Per Share

This is INTEL!

By Prince Osuagwu
Intel Corporation has announced that its board of directors has approved a 16 percent increase in the quarterly cash dividend to 21 cents per share. This translates to 84 cents per share on an annual basis, beginning with the dividend that will be declared in the third quarter of 2011.
The announcement is the second dividend increase in the past 6 months. Intel previously raised the dividend 15 percent in November 2010.
Its dividend payout has steadily increased at a 33 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) since 2003, compared to the Standard & Poor, S&P 500 growth rate of 6 percent over the same period.
According to  Intel president and CEO, Mr Paul Otellini, “worldwide demand for computing continues to increase at a very rapid rate, putting Intel on track for revenue growth of over 20 percent this year, delivering another record year for the company. Intel's current and projected growth is generating strong cash flow, allowing us to further increase our dividend. We are delivering on our commitment to return cash to shareholders with annual dividend growth that's already more than five times the S&P 500".
In addition to raising the dividend over 30 percent in the past 6 months, Intel also increased the authorization limit for share repurchases by an additional $10 billion in January, bringing the total outstanding buyback authorization to $14.2 billion. In the first quarter of 2011, Intel used $4 billion of the total buyback authorization to repurchase shares. Since the company's stock buyback program began in 1990 and through the end of the first quarter of 2011, Intel repurchased approximately 3.6 billion shares at a cost of approximately $74 billion.
Intel began paying a cash dividend in 1992 and has paid out approximately $22 billion to its shareholders in dividends. Intel cash dividends for 2010 totaled approximately $3.5 billion.
Taken together since their inception, Intel's dividends and stock buyback program have returned approximately $96 billion to shareholders.

Risk Factors

It however explained the risk factors, saying that many factors could affect its actual results, and variances from current expectations and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements.
It said that dividend declarations and the dividend rate are at the discretion of Intel's board of directors, and plans for future dividends may be revised by the board. Intel's dividend program could be affected by changes in Intel's operating results, its capital spending programs, changes in its cash flows and changes in the tax laws, as well as by the level and timing of acquisition and investment activity.
Demand could be different from Intel's expectations due to factors including changes in business and economic conditions, including supply constraints and other disruptions affecting customers; customer acceptance of Intel's and competitors' products; changes in customer order patterns including order cancellations; and changes in the level of inventory at customers. Potential disruptions in the high technology supply chain resulting from the recent disaster in Japan could cause customer demand to be different from Intel's expectations.
Intel operates in intensely competitive industries that are characterized by a high percentage of costs that are fixed or difficult to reduce in the short term and product demand that is highly variable and difficult to forecast. Revenue and the gross margin percentage are affected by the timing of Intel product introductions and the demand for and market acceptance of Intel's products; actions taken by Intel's competitors, including product offerings and introductions, marketing programs and pricing pressures and Intel's response to such actions; and Intel's ability to respond quickly to technological developments and to incorporate new features into its products.
The company's gross margin percentage could vary significantly from expectations based on capacity utilization; variations in inventory valuation, including variations related to the timing of qualifying products for sale; changes in revenue levels; product mix and pricing; the timing and execution of the manufacturing ramp and associated costs; start-up costs; excess or obsolete inventory; changes in unit costs; defects or disruptions in the supply of materials or resources; product manufacturing quality/yields; and impairments of long-lived assets, including manufacturing, assembly/test and intangible assets.
Expenses, particularly certain marketing and compensation expenses, as well as restructuring and asset impairment charges, vary depending on the level of demand for Intel's products and the level of revenue and profits.
The company's effective tax rate expectation is based on current tax law and current expected income. The tax rate may be affected by the jurisdictions in which profits are determined to be earned and taxed; changes in the estimates of credits, benefits and deductions; the resolution of issues arising from tax audits with various tax authorities, including payment of interest and penalties; and the ability to realize deferred tax assets.
Gains or losses from equity securities and interest and other could vary from expectations depending on gains or losses on the sale, exchange, change in the fair value or impairments of debt and equity investments; interest rates; cash balances; and changes in fair value of derivative instruments.
The majority of Intel's non-marketable equity investment portfolio balance is concentrated in companies in the flash memory market segment, and declines in this market segment or changes in management's plans with respect to Intel's investments in this market segment could result in significant impairment charges, impacting restructuring charges as well as gains/losses on equity investments and interest and other.
Intel's results could be affected by adverse economic, social, political and physical/infrastructure conditions in countries where Intel, its customers or its suppliers operate, including military conflict and other security risks, natural disasters, infrastructure disruptions, health concerns and fluctuations in currency exchange rates.
Intel's results could be affected by the timing of closing of acquisitions and divestitures.
Intel's results could be affected by adverse effects associated with product defects and errata and by litigation or regulatory matters involving intellectual property, stockholder, consumer, antitrust and other issues, such as the litigation and regulatory matters described in Intel's SEC reports. An unfavorable ruling could include monetary damages or an injunction prohibiting us from manufacturing or selling one or more products, precluding particular business practices, impacting Intel's ability to design its products, or requiring other remedies such as compulsory licensing of intellectual property.
A detailed discussion of these and other factors that could affect Intel's results is included in Intel's SEC filings, including the report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended April 2, 2011.
Intel is a world leader in computing innovation. The company designs and builds the essential technologies that serve as the foundation for the world’s computing devices.

Visafone repositions for growth, appoints new CEO

L-R: Outgoing Visafone CEO, Ramachandran Balachandran, welcomes his successor Mr. Sailesh Iyer

By Prince Osuagwu

Consolidating on its recent acquisition of Multi-links, Visafone Nigeria may have decided to reposition. It is perhaps beginning this strategy with rejigging its management and operations to actually meet the challenges of a vibrant and constantly evolving telecom industry.
The company at the weekend, announced the appointment of Mr. Sailesh Iyer as the new Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer and Mr. Parag Sen as the Chief Marketing Officer, CMO.
The new CEO replaces Mr. Ramachandran Balachandran, who is leaving the services of Visafone after completing his two-year contract.
The company said the new CEO has over 20 years experience and a go-getter with a proven record of success.
He is said to be coming to Visafone after his last stint as National Head Government Business- Wireless Group at Reliance Communications Ltd, India.
Meanwhile, the Chief Marketing Officer, Mr. Parag Sen is said to be a senior international management executive with over 15 years experience in the telecom, banking and advertising industries.
He was described as an emerging market specialist, whose last role was with Afghan Wireless, Afghanistan as Marketing Director. He has proven credentials in marketing strategy, planning and marketing operations.
The wholly owned Nigerian company operates with the service ideals of Quality, Clarity and Coverage and promises to renew the joy of communication and give Nigerians the passport to reach the world.

Old NITEL phones resurrect in Germany with Retro telephone new arrivals

Are the old times back?

By Prince Osuagwu


Remember the early days in Nigeria, when communication through telephones would only end you up in the hands of NITEL, the nation's national telecommunications carrier? And, after a long queue, you also have to contend with a routine dialing which comes in form of winding the table phone with a round key pad housing the numbers? How time flies. Back in the 70s and 80s, this was the case but today technology has made everything easy. The key pads either on the mobile or table phones are simple and visible and allows for easy dialing.
But for complaints of poor quality of service among telecom operators in recent times, nobody spends ages waiting for dialing tones anymore. That is the beauty of development. But the dynamism of technological advancement can sometimes be crazy or at best a little funny. While research favours advancements it sometimes finds relevance in reverting to the old.
Perhaps, that is what happened when French company, Sagemcom harks back to an earlier age of domestic communications with the "Sixty" cordless phone.
With the Sixty, Sagemcom delivers a new twist on the 1960's Bakelite telephone by transforming the stocky rotary form into a folded, slimline design and adding a digital time fascia and capacitive touchscreen. The non-retro functionality includes hands-free calling, caller ID, 150 name and number phone book, phone conferencing, multiple languages, and an integrated digital answer machine.
The drilling bell tone of old, comes back in more modern polyphonic ringtones, even though there is still the original "ring ring" for those who want to retain some of the old-skool feel. There's also rotating lights and sound effects during dialing.
One 1960s element that doesn't make a comeback is the curly phone cord, instead there's a wireless handset with a 10 hour battery life. The Sagecom Sixty is estimated to cost about US$167.

How Teleprompter makes TV newscasters suddenly smarter

Teleprompter

A typical smart TV presenter

By Prince Osuagwu

In recent times, the TV presenter is smarter. He holds the viewer spell-bound with his antics of reading out news without looking down at the scripts. Meanwhile the impressions are that these professionals are either highly intelligent or outright super humans.
But we can reveal to you today, that the secret, is a technology called the teleprompter machine. This is a telescript devise used in the television news business that prompts the newsreader with an electronic visual text of the script.
The screen is in front of the presenter and usually below the lens of the camera. The words on the screen are reflected to a sheet of clear glass or specially prepared beam splitter. Light from the performer passes through the front side of the glass into the lens, while a shroud surrounding the lens and the back side of the glass prevents unwanted light from reflecting into the lens. The news reader on cue only needs to look in the direction of the camera lens and see words reflect on the clear glass and read them.
As the speaker does not need to look down to consult written notes, he or she appears to have memorized the speech or be speaking spontaneously. But all is the work of this piece of brilliant technology.
Genesis
The teleprompter technology is the brain child of the Teleprompter corporation founded in the 1950's by Fred Barton, Jr, Herbert Schlafly and Irving Berlin Kahn.
Barton was an actor who suggested the concept of the teleprompter as a means of assisting television performers who had to memorize large amounts of material in a short time.
Schlafly built the first teleprompter in 1950. It was simply a mechanical device, operated by a hidden technician, located near the camera.
The script was printed on a paper scroll, which was advanced as the performer read. In 1952, former US President, Herbert Hoover used a Schlafly-designed teleprompter to address the Republican National Convention in Chicago.
Modernisation:
Modern Teleprompters for news programmes consists of a personal computer, connected to video monitors on each camera. However, as spontaneous as this technology makes newscasters look, there has been countless series of embarrassing moments termed newsroom disasters where there have been a total collapse of the entire news bulletin from teleprompters when they suddenly fail and leave newsreaders in a blank.
However, news readers are trained to follow the prompter by flipping their scrip over at the end of every page. But sometimes, the deeply concentrating reader eventual gets carried away by the fluidity and spontaneity of the technology that they forget the words are not coming from their heads and that things could go wrong.
Incidentally, things, do very often, go wrong and the news reader is left at the mercy of split seconds precision to resume reading from the hard script before him or her. It is at this point, you know they aren’t super humans after all.

Comviva leads Mobile Money market with 92 recharge solutions deployment across growth markets

Mobile money solution

By Prince Osuagwu

With 92 deployments of recharge solutions globally, Comviva’s mobiquity platform seems to be taking the lead in mobile money delivery platforms across growth markets.
The company says it delivers mobile financial services to over 230 million mobile subscribers in more than 20 markets across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East even as its mobiquity is currently live in 38 service provider’s platforms globally.
Meanwhile, it has about 54 deployments of PreTUPS powers recharge for over 520 million mobile subscribers worldwide. PreTUPS handles 11 million transactions daily in a single operator deployment.
Showing off its prowess, Comviva said that one leading Asian operator that deployed its mobiquity platform, was performing over 410,000 utility bill payment transactions monthly on the platform even as another leading South Asian operator penetrated the huge low-income market segment by offering previously unavailable low denomination top-ups on deploying its PreTUPS electronic recharge solution.
Comviva said that the low denomination top-ups now constitute over 95% of all top-up sales in that market. Meanwhile, across Africa, PreTUPS enables affordable recharge for 100 million mobile subscribers in 19 markets.
Also in India, a major operator, with over 100 million subscribers, is said to be providing mobile payment and ticketing services using the mobiquity platform. In Bangladesh, a leading operator pioneered international remittance services between major migrant-worker markets using mobiquity. In Cambodia, a regional bank provides an end-to end suite of financial services, including salary payments, remittance services and bill payments.
Commenting on providing consumers with convenient and affordable access to financial services, Vice President, Mobile Financial Solutions, Comviva, Srinivas Nidugondi, said, “we have long recognized that a vast and untapped opportunity exists to provide people with easy access to formal financial services across emerging markets worldwide. Enabling payments and P2P transfers is a compelling proposition – especially in markets where financial networks are relatively weak. We are leading the market in working with service providers to meet this demand.”
Comviva’s mobiquity mobile financial services platform is an award-winning white-labeled solution that empowers operators and financial service providers to cater to the diverse financial needs of both banked and unbanked customers.
Comviva says that with mobiquity, banked customers have constant and convenient access to their complete financial services portfolio, as well as the ability to carry out everyday financial transactions. Comviva’s mobiquity platform can also be deployed to target banked customers, providing mobile access to people’s bank accounts and credit cards and enabling bill payments on the go.

South Africa loses C-band satellite in orbit

satellite in orbit

Satellite

By Prince Osuagwu

Satellite fleet operator Intelsat reported at the weekend that one of the two principal reflector antennas on its just-launched New Dawn telecommunications satellite for South Africa has failed to deploy in orbit and that release of the other antenna will await attempts to force the first one to spring loose.
The Intelsat New Dawn satellite was placed into geostationary transfer orbit April 22 by  European Ariane 5 ECA rocket. Since then, the satellite’s manufacturer, Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., has been overseeing the transfer of the satellite from the point where it was released by the rocket to its test location, at 23.1 degrees east longitude in geostationary orbit. The satellite’s final operating location is 32.8 degrees east, where it is scheduled to serve mainly an African audience.
Orbital has told Intelsat that the C-band reflector’s ejection-release mechanism has functioned, releasing a series of pins that hold the antenna close to the satellite’s body for launch, Intelsat said.
But other data, including temperature readings from the satellite, have confirmed that the reflector remains stuck in place.
This is South Africa’s first attempt to launch a satellite communications platform and its failure means that  the country must return to the drawing board if it must sustain its adventure in space.
It could be recalled that Nigeria also lost its Nigcomsat1, 18 months after launch and had to start the process of replacement which according to NigComSat, would be ready soon.
South Africa now may have to start anew because like Nigeria, South Africa has no back up satellite when the incident occured.
Perhaps this could be a possible reason why countries which desire to be in space especially which deploy communications satellite must as a rule have back up satellites to cushion the effect of possible failures.
The failure of the Intelsat built satellite removes the question of failure traceable to manufacturers and justifies the reality that satellites could fail irrespective of who manufactured them.
It is however gathered that Nigeria’s Nigcomsat 1R is due for launch in the last quarter of 2011.Talks on two back up satellites Nigcomsat 2 and 3 are also on- going and would be built a few months after the launch of Nigcomsat 1R.
Intelsat spokeswoman Dianne J. VanBeber said that the ground teams have begun a series of maneuvers to remedy the situation.
Intelsat said it would delay releasing the Ku-band reflector while the unblocking attempts on the C-band reflector are continued. The satellite has 28 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders when measured in 36-megahertz equivalents. Aside from the blocked C-band reflector, the satellite is functioning normally, Intelsat said.
Intelsat New Dawn is owned by a joint venture of Luxembourg- and Washington-based Intelsat and Convergence Partners of South Africa. Valued at $250 million including construction, launch and insurance, Intelsat New Dawn is intended to replace Intelsat’s Galaxy 11 satellite at 32.8 degrees east. Intelsat estimates that Galaxy 11 will remain operational until April 2015.

Zinox pays N2.1 billion tax on DDC machines

Leo-Stan Ekeh

By Prince Osuagwu

Group Chairman, Zinox technologies, Mr Leo-Stan Ekeh last week, hinted that his company alone paid up to 2.1 billion in tax for the 60 percent contract share of the Direct Data Capturing DDC machines used in the registration process of the April general elections.
Ekeh was speaking in relation to what benefits the country could scoop, allowing indigenous companies to execute some of the government contracts. He encouraged corporate organisations in the country to also pay their taxes promptly to have a good ground to tackle government on local content policy when the issue arises.
For him, the e-registration process was a good start to having free, fair and credible elections in the country even as he maintained that the direct fall out of the e-registration exercise was a reduction in the number of litigations.
He scored the performance of INEC in the last election high noting that Nigeria could now be rated 75 percent from the original poor position of 30 percent in organising credible elections.
According to Ekeh, “the e-registration has reduced the number of litigations. It is a good start to a credible election. At least the country has risen now from about 30 percent to 75 percent and that is a good sign. What now remains is to put other infrastructure in place to ensure a proper e-voting in Nigeria”.
Ekeh also used the opportunity of the end of year and staff award event to redefine staff welfare by offering scholarships to the children of all staff who earn less than N1m as gross salary P/A under the Staff Children Scholarship Scheme.
Each staff in this category would have up to 3 children covered under this scheme through secondary school up to tertiary institution. One of these children would be trained in a private secondary school.
The highpoint of the Awards was the Staff of the Year Award won by Emmanuel Onuegbu, General Manager, Abuja/North for his outstanding performance in achieving revenue targets in the 2010/11 financial year. Mr. Onuegbu was also commended for his growing marketing versatility that has seen him interact seamlessly with all social segments in the IT market. The Staff of the Year Award would bring about an upward review of his fringe benefits. The Awardees home branch at Abuja would also enjoy some benefits as a means of encouraging team work.
Ekeh, however noted that the emphasis on education reinforces his belief that only quality education available to all would lead this nation to greatness. The Chairman revealed that the Zinox Group would increase its CSR in the educational sector through the provision of more digital centers and IT laboratories in tertiary institutions in the six geopolitical zones in the country.

Goodwell investment comes Paga way

Mobile money

By Prince Osuagwu

A pioneering mobile money service, Paga launched in Nigeria in February 2011, after receiving approval from the Central Bank, has received investment from Goodwell West Africa, a microfinance investment vehicle co-managed by investment manager Goodwell Investments and Alitheia Capital in Nigeria.
The partners said the investment was for mutual benefits, knowing that both companies have areas which can be strengthened by the other.
With Paga, any person with a mobile phone or access to the internet is able to send cash, purchase airtime credit, pay bills, pay retailers and perform a variety of other transactions. Paga operates via a nationwide network of dedicated agents, which include several hundred agents associated with DStv, the leading provider of multi-channel pay television in Africa, with whom Paga has an exclusive partnership.
Paga said it’s mission is to deliver innovative and universal access to financial services for those underserved or excluded, especially payments and savings via the mobile phone. Their approach to mobile payments is a multi-stakeholder one - Paga is available on all mobile networks and is delivered to customers in collaboration with strong local banks, retailers and various other private and public sector organisations.
Goodwell Investments is an innovative impact investment firm focused on access to finance and sustainable development. It invests in entrepreneurial microfinance organisations on a socially and commercially sustainable basis. Its microfinance investments are focussed on two regions: India and West Africa. In West Africa, Goodwell works in partnership with Alitheia Capital based out of Lagos.
Els Boerhof, Partner at Goodwell: “Our fund was founded on the principal belief that improving access to affordable financial services for people at the ‘Base of the Pyramid’ contributes to sustainable development.  This can best be achieved by developing and scaling up entrepreneurial institutions aimed at banking the unbanked. We believe that Paga will achieve a substantial social return as well as an attractive financial result. Providing the poor with savings and remittances via the mobile phone makes access to these financial services cheaper, as expensive bank branches are not needed and many people do have a mobile phone nowadays in Nigeria.”
CEO of Alitheia, Tokunboh Ishmael, said that “we seek investments that not only provide financial impact but also social impact. Paga provides this double impact through its innovative platform, which facilitates financial inclusion by taking relevant financial services to the doorsteps of millions of Nigerians. We are very confident in the Paga team, in its bold vision and look forward to working closely to achieve our mutual objectives.”
This is also as Tayo Oviosu, Founder and CEO of Paga, added that “Goodwell and Alitheia bring a great wealth of international and local experience which will further strengthen our ability to achieve our vision as a company. We are strongly committed to bringing quality financial services to all Nigerians and truly believe that Paga will change the life of the average person for the better.”

Smartphone market growth closes in on 80 % Year Over Year in Q1

SMARTPHONES......Have turned out to be the ideal solution

SMARTPHONES  ....... Gaining market shares through global adoption

By Prince Osuagwu

If the International Data Corporation, IDC, Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, is anything to rely upon, the worldwide smartphone market, may have grown close to 80 percent year over year in the first quarter of 2011 .
The report said the sector closed on 79.7% at the end of first quarter of 2011, adding that the development was driven by a combination of vendors releasing highly anticipated models, widespread availability of older smartphones at lower prices, and sustained end-user demand.
According to the Tracker, smartphone vendors shipped a total of 99.6 million units in 1Q11, nearly double from the 55.4 million units in the first quarter of 2010.
Senior research analyst with the tracker, Ramon Llamas, said that conditions in the smartphone market were creating a perfect storm for sustained smartphone growth, adding that vendors were also increasingly emphasizing smartphones as the key to their own growth.
He also contended that selection has proliferated from mostly high-end devices to include more mid-range and entry-level offerings, even as pricing has become increasingly competitive, with even high-end devices available at low price points.
Another factor to the sudden growth, according to him, included the fact that users continued to seek greater utility from their mobile phone beyond voice, as smartphones have turned out to be the ideal solution.
The strong demand for smartphones also means the market will remain highly competitive and fragmented because Llamas said that “the rise of Android as a prominent mobile operating system has allowed several suppliers to gain share quickly.
The report predicted that the relatively nascent state of smartphone adoption globally means there is ample room for several suppliers to comfortably co-exist, at least for the short term.

Top five Vendors
The top five Smartphone Vendors as the report saw it, included:
Nokia; despite announcing its intentions to move from Symbian to Windows Phone as its primary smartphone operating system, maintained its leadership position in the smartphone market. Demand for Symbian-powered smartphones remained strong within its traditionally strongest markets of EMEA and Asia/Pacific, and the company continues to announce more devices running on Symbian, including the E6 and the X7. Still, as Nokia transitions from Symbian to Windows Phone, it may find itself in danger of ceding market share as the competition ramps up smartphone production.

Apple, reached a new record shipment volume in a single quarter, and inched closer to market leader Nokia with fewer than six million units separating the two companies. The company posted market-beating year-over-year growth and recorded triple-digit growth in two key markets: the United States, with the release of its CDMA-enabled iPhone, and Greater China. Additionally, the company enlisted South Korean Telecom and Saudi Telecom as carrier providers of the iPhone.

Research In Motion remained solidly in third place from the previous quarter, as the company grew its presence outside of its home territory of North America. RIM has launched several 3G devices to the market, and recently announced two new BlackBerry smartphones running on its new BlackBerry 7 OS. Still, the majority of RIM's shipment volumes have been comprised of older, lower-cost devices. The company expects this trend to continue into the following quarter.

Samsung posted the largest year-over-year gain of any other vendor on the list. With a multiple operating system strategy in place, Samsung has been able to grow its smartphone portfolio to meet the needs of a diverse market. Accounting for the majority of its smartphones and driving shipment volumes higher was the continued success of its Android-based smartphones, including the high-end Galaxy S devices and mass-market Galaxy Ace and Galaxy mini devices. Meanwhile, its bada-powered Wave devices and Windows Phone 7 devices continued to gain traction.

HTC posted yet another record shipment volume, nearly surpassing the ten million unit mark for the first time. Like other vendors, HTC announced multiple new devices, including the Facebook-optimized Salsa and ChaCha. In addition, the company launched several new devices, including its Inspire 4G, WiMAX-enabled EVO Shift 4G, and LTE-enabled Thunderbolt. These, along with its investment and developments on hardware, displays, and its HTC Sense layer have helped HTC differentiate itself further in an increasingly crowded market.

Nokia flags off E7 Smartphone sales in Nigeria

Nokia E7

By Prince Osuagwu

World leading Smart phone makers, Nokia, at the weekend, officially unveiled its latest smartphone, the Nokia E7 into the Nigerian market. The colourful ceremony which held at the Four points Sheraton Hotels Lekki Lagos, officially marks the flag-off of commercial sales of the product in Nigerian markets.
General manager of Nokia West Africa, James Rutherfoord who declared the event open, noted that Nokia  deliberately primed the E7  to redefine the smartphone market in Nigeria.
With its tilting 4 inch Clear Black display, full keyboard and a fast access to a wide variety of apps directly on the homescreen, Mr Rutherfoord said the Nokia E7 is the key to having a successful day in or out of the office. According to him, the device supports business applications from leading enterprise technology partners including Microsoft and IBM. 
He said Nokia E7 gives users the confidence to bring their own smartphones to the workplace to connect securely to corporate messaging servers, irrespective of their status. According to him,  "whether you are an artist, entrepreneur, university student or aspiring world traveller, the Nokia E7 is the only smartphone you will need to get the world’s best mobile navigation and mapping application, thousands of apps, millions of music, and a rich messaging experience.”
For business users, he said the Nokia E7 provides direct, secure and real-time access to email, calendar, contacts, tasks and the corporate directory through Microsoft Exchange servers. The same, he said, was the case with Office Communicator Mobile, developed by Microsoft for Nokia smartphones, which brings presence and corporate instant messaging.
Meanwhile, a wide range of entertainment and social services available on the Nokia E7, added to why Rutherfoord said its the perfect off-duty companion, even as the Ovi Store offers a wealth of apps such as Bloomberg, Angry Birds and Sports Tracker.
The new arrival offers drive or walk navigation in 80 countries. The latest commercial version of Ovi Maps, available immediately via Ovi Store or Ovi Suite, adds visibility to subways, trams and trains, real-time traffic, safety alerts, visibility to parking and petrol stations, speed limit warnings, and improved search and location sharing capabilities.
To convince his audience that the product was an all-in-one business smartphone, Rutherfoord seven rare features that distinguishes the product from other. According to him, the Nokia E7 makes easy access to private and business email; Creates, edits and shares office documents and view PDF files with Adobe Reader; enables fast, secure intranet access with the built-in VPN; supports high-resolution photos and HD video with the 8 megapixel camera and dual LED flash; turns HDMI connectivity to project files, videos and images onto large screens; has 16 gigabytes of on-board flash memory and supports USB-On-The-Go, enabling easy file sharing.

PARTNER ADVANTAGE PROGRAMME: MainOne weaves broadband last-mile benefits around telecom operators

Broadband

By Prince Osuagwu
Internet freaks in Nigeria who may be hoping for a direct business deal with frontline broadband access providers in Nigeria, Main One cable company, to enhance their broadband end use experience, may at the moment, still have to rely on the company’s resellers including major telecom operators and other ISPs.
This is as the company has reiterated its position not to go into retails even in the near future. In fact, the company revealed that going retail, was not even in its business strategy for now.
However, the good news is that not going retail for the company, does not mean that it would not monitor whether its broadband investment, rubs off positively on end users or employ strategies to create desired impact if expectant teeming Nigerians are not getting what would make them sing a new song.
Apparently to show seriousness in this regard, the cable company has decided to flag off a programme tagged Partner Advantage Programme, aimed at working with its partners to provide benefits capable of expanding existing businesses, creating new business opportunities and as well grow capacity for the company.
Part of the benefits of the programme, included that it would help the partners leverage on the existing and new infrastructure available to deliver capacity to collective customers, address complex last mile distribution business needs and address all requests for capacity subscriptions below 10Mbps.
In the over all, the programme is expected at the end to increase internet penetration in Nigeria. In common language, the programme is aimed at beating out ways of offering MainOne customers more reduced prices which they in turn would pass over to the end users.
Dropping the hint of the programme, MainOne’s Head, Marketing and Strategy, Mr Adebayo Oyewole noted that his company in its ten months operation in Nigeria, has discovered that prices of bandwidth which were expected to come down with the landing of the undersea submarine cable, were still high, adding that if nothing was done to check that, the expected gains of the investment would take time to come and eventually look like a fluke.
According to him, the programme may have the blessings of international giants like Cisco, Oracle and Microsoft among others.
According to Oyewole, this programme would see to a major reduction in data packages of the Nigerian telecom operators who are the main customers of the cable company and eventually rub-off positively on the scores of Nigerians hooked on their network services.
He also hinted that his company was going to launch its Internet Protocol, IP platform in July, to enable most of its customers who do not wish to buy an STM1 to also get better services directly from the company.
Although MainOne’s cable initiative has a total of 5terabytes capacity, Oyewole said that about 1.92 capacity has been built already, of which about 10 percent has already been let out in the last ten months.



....Strikes partnership with SEACOM on capacity for Nigeria, SA

In a similar development, the company has also partnered with a leading African cable operator, SEACOM in an effort that has resulted in interconnecting their West and East African Cable Systems to launch capacity services from one Point of Presence, PoP to another, from a STM-1 level and above.
This partnership extends the Main One and SEACOM networks to create a system that offers connection between any SEACOM and Main One PoPs all around Africa between South Africa and Nigeria.
An excited Funke Opeke, Main One CEO, said of the partnership: “While efforts to implement a physical cable between Nigeria and South Africa continue, we have joined our cables together in Europe to satisfy many of our customers’ immediate requirements for capacity between Nigeria and South Africa.”
The joint solution is provided on an open-access basis and is immediately available, providing customers with a timing advantage ahead of the completion of other planned systems around the African continent.
SEACOM CEO, Brian Herlihy said he held the view that “a ring-type system around the entire continent is the best way to attain adequate redundancy whilst offering customers a comprehensive connectivity solution. The announcement shows our determination to find a viable way to extend our system with partners who share our vision to build the African Internet.”
The SEACOM submarine fibre optic network system was launched on 23 July 2009. The cable network serves to directly connect South Africa and Eastern Africa with Europe and Southern Asia, covering a distance of over 17 000km worth of fibre optic technology.

RIM debuts with BlackBerry Bold 9900, 9300 ranges

The new beauts from RIM

By Prince Osuagwu

Research In Motion, RIM has announced a major upgrade in its Bold line range of Blackberry phones, with the imminent arrival of the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 Smartphones. Combining the familiar full QWERTY keypad with a new Liquid Graphics touch screen, the 9900 and 9300 will run on the new BlackBerry 7 Operating System and pack 720p HD video.
It will also have built-in Near Field Communications, NFC , technology, a 1.2 GHz processor.
It may also pass as the thinnest BlackBerry form factor yet, spotting 10.5 mm (0.41-inches) size.
On the hardware side, the new Bold's get a 1.2 GHz Processor, 768 MB RAM, 8 GB on-board memory including a microSD slot supporting up to 32 GB cards, a 5 megapixel camera and 720p video recording.
The new beuts also spot a built-in accelerometer and a compass for location-based services and augmented reality overlays like the Wikitude browser, and support for high speed 4G/HSPA+ networks.
Its actually a 2.8-inch phone with Liquid Graphics capacity and touch screen display. It has a 640x480, 287 ppi resolution, perhaps pursuing the iPhone 4 which has about 326 ppi.
RIM says the phones offer up to 60 frames-per-second performance with instant UI action/response.

NCC to intensify enlightenment on SIM Registration

SIMs

By Prince Osuagwu

The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has promised to keep the flag of enlightenment on the SIM card registration, flying , so that the full benefits of the exercise must be harnessed. 

The Commission had on March 28, 2011, flagged off the six-month nationwide SIM registration exercise which is slated to end September 28,  2011.

Making the promise, Head, Media and Public Relations of the Commission, Mr. Reuben Muoka, said in Abuja, that the  current campaign will include radio jingles in local languages giving subscribers the location of SIM Card registration centres in all the states of the federation even as key national dailies have been selected to publish the campaign ads.

He said SIM Card registration centres will continue  in various states of the federation and that some of the registration agents will move around with mobile units to cover areas that may not have fixed registration centres in any particular locations such as markets and other similar locations.

In the NCC SIM registration centres, subscribers  would  be able to register all their SIM cards irrespective of  their network of choice . The Commission however said that all subscribers who have already registered with their telecom service providers need ednot come for the registration carried out by the NCC agents as same will be collated for the same purpose at the Central data base for all subscribers in the country.

The general elections which ended last week, may have slowed the pace of the registration but now the elections are over, it is expected that subscribers would have ample opportunity to register their SIM cards with NCC appointed registration vendors nationwide. 

Worldwide mobile phone market adds 20% in first quarter

By Prince Osuagwu


The worldwide mo

Nokia N8 series

bile phone market grew approximately 20 percent closing at 19.8 percent year over year in the first quarter of 2011, according to report released by the International Data Corporate, IDC.
This development according to the corporation, was fueled by high smartphone growth, especially in emerging markets, and gains made by market challengers.
The IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, said that vendors shipped 371.8 million units in first quarter of 2011 compared to 310.5 million units in the first quarter of 2010.
Smartphone growth worldwide, particularly in Asia/Pacific, excluding Japan, Middle East and Africa, MEA, and Latin America, helped lift the overall market to a new first-quarter high. Increasingly, mobile phone makers and carriers are making smartphones affordable to a wider variety of people, which has helped drive the market to new heights.
It also said that Smartphone-specific vendors, such as HTC, continue to grow sales at a steady clip as a result of this trend.
Senior research analyst, Kevin Restivo, noted that “several notable vendors, including feature phone makers, outpaced the overall market, which contributed to share losses of some top suppliers. The growth of companies outside the top 5 vendors such as Micromax, TCL-Alcatel, Huawei, and Research In Motion, shows that the overall market is still very much ripe for share gains”.
Corroborating his position, senior research analyst with IDC's mobile phone technology and trends team, Ramon Llamas added that “at the same time, feature phones have represented the majority of mobile phone shipments, but still are under tremendous pressure from smartphones. This is even as popular quick-messaging devices, that is phones with QWERTY keyboard, once a bright spot within the feature phone market, appear to be losing steam as smartphones gain popularity.
However, the report said that it did not expect feature phones to disappear quickly as there was still strong demand for them across the globe.

How the regions fared in first quarter

* The Asia/Pacific market grew thanks in part to strong mobile phone shipments to Greater China despite the seasonally slow quarter. Smartphone shipment growth was exceptional despite some key product launch delays. In Japan, the market underperformed IDC's forecast due to the impact of the earthquake and tsunami. Japan's largest mobile operators ordered fewer phones than expected in March.

* In Western Europe, Android-based phones and iPhones helped grow the market in the seasonally slow quarter. New devices from HTC, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson sold well in most countries in the high-end tiers. Alcatel, Huawei, and ZTE Android devices helped drive mid-tier segment sales volume. Meanwhile, feature phone shipments receded as more smartphones hit the market. The CEMA markets performed well on a year-over-year basis despite civil unrest in some Gulf countries, such as Egypt, where sales were negatively impacted by the turbulence. Nokia and Research In Motion performed well in the regions overall.

* In the United States last quarter, Apple's iPhone and the LTE-enabled HTC Thunderbolt were two smartphones introduced at Verizon Wireless that helped keep the category front and center of the overall mobile phone market. Feature phones, including once popular quick messaging devices, continued to lose ground. Similarly, in Canada, the market grew thanks to smartphones. BlackBerry, iPhone, and Android devices were best sellers.

* The Latin America market growth continued last quarter as the gap between smartphones and feature phones narrowed. Smartphone shipments were aided by carriers, who are moving customers to 3G networks while vendors shipped more touchscreen and QWERTY models. New Android and Windows Phone devices were launched too, which helped drive smartphone growth. The average selling prices also declined in the region, thanks to aggressive expansion by Chinese vendors.