Alcatel Main One extend undersea cable maintenance contract

Opeke

By Prince Osuagwu

Alcatel-Lucent and Main One Cable Company Limited, have renewed their marine maintenance contract for Main One’s submarine cable system connecting Portugal to Nigeria over 7,000 km and contributing to enhance overall African and international connectivity. Delivering high-speed bandwidth of 1.92 Tbit/s, the Main One cable enables cost-effective access to global information, data and markets in Western Africa.

As a member of the Atlantic Private Maintenance Agreement (APMA), Main One will continue to manage and maintain its network at the highest level of performance. Under the service level agreement, Alcatel-Lucent will make available its maintenance vessels, as well as experienced, fully trained, and certified specialist personnel for cable repairs.

 “To ensure the optimal network availability for continuity and quality of communications that our customers demand, we rely on world-class technical support including state-of-the-art cable ships capable of delivering rapid response repair services in any weather condition,” said Bernard Logan, Main One Chief Commercial Officer. “Alcatel-Lucent’s demonstrated capability and experience in all aspects of marine operations and maintenance assures and enhances the reliability of our network.”

 “This contract renewal further confirms Alcatel-Lucent’s leading role as marine service provider to help operators maintain their networks at the highest standards of service reliability for maximum end-user confidence,” said Philippe Dumont, head of Alcatel-Lucent’s submarine network activity. “Combined with the recent redistribution of our maintenance vessels in the Atlantic, our Cape Verde-based cable ship will offer the shortest possible mobilization time for any repair operations off West Africa.

 Alcatel-Lucent capitalizes on its unique experience as turnkey provider delivering a wide range of installation, maintenance and related services, which includes the Atlantic Private Maintenance Agreement (APMA).  Alcatel-Lucent private maintenance agreements offer a unique solution adapting to the particular maintenance philosophies of individual cable owners and their needs.  Alcatel-Lucent currently maintains over 300,000km of critical submarine cable infrastructure worldwide.

Etisalat Appointed First GSM Apple Authorised Reseller in Nigeria …Offers Customers 12 Months Free Data on iPad

By Prince Osuagwu

With the growing demand for Apple products
in Nigeria, especially the iPad and iPhone range of smartphones,
innovative telecommunications company, Etisalat Nigeria has entered
into a deal with Core Group Africa, the Apple authorized distributor
for Nigeria, to make its products readily available across the
country. The deal makes Etisalat the first mobile network operator to
become an authorised reseller of various Apple iPads and accessories
in Nigeria.

Wael Ammar

Announcing this in Lagos, Chief Commercial Officer, Etisalat Nigeria,
Mr Wael Ammar said that with the signing of the agreement between the
two companies, Etisalat will be the first telecommunications operator
permitted to sell Apple’s iPad in selected retail outlets spread
across the country, while offering  a two-year warranty cover on all
iPad devices sold. In addition, he announced, the company will also be
offering customers who purchase the products at its Experience Centres
with an unbeatable 12-month free internet data access on its easy blaze product.
According to Ammar, “as part of our promise to provide our customers with value added propositions, Etisalat as the first mobile network operator to be an
official Reseller for Apple in Nigeria, will also be offering our
customers 12 months free data on all iPads purchased at our Experience
Centres and sales outlets, and the products come with a two-year
warranty”.

He however pointed out that the two-year warranty will only apply once the subscriber registers the iPad purchased from Etisalat on www.isocietynigeria.com.
He assured that the company is ready and well positioned to provide its customers with best support services and support on iPad in Nigeria. He said that with the deal, Nigerians are now able to purchase authentic iPad products in Nigeria with the peace of mind that this will be fully supported locally. The new iPad which was officially launched in Nigeria by Core Group Africa, redefines the category which Apple created a few years ago, delivering the most amazing experience people have ever had with technology. 

 It has one of the highest resolution display ever seen on a mobile device with 2048 X 1536 pixels, giving razor sharp details on texts, videos and photos. It also supports dictation. Instead of typing, one simply taps the microphone on the key board and says what he wants.

NigComSat kicks off e-voting campaign with NSE online real time elections

By Prince Osuagwu

Rufai.....The man behind the success

The Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE) at the weekend successfully conducted its yearly general elections online real-time through an e-voting system manufactured locally by engineers at Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT).

The elections were monitored by participants and voters online either on their laptops or smartphones that are internet enabled.

Prior to the election, data of the members were captured electronically and biometric information taken.

At the venue of the election, the data was accessed electronically and accreditation was smooth.

NIGCOMSAT provided mobile internet via Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) for connectivity to broadcast events online real-time on the NigComSat-1R satellite.

By this means, participants and contestants monitored the procedures online real-time as voting was updated on the dedicated website for the election as each voter cast his or her ballot.

The elections were conducted at the Kwara Hotels, Ilorin and transmitted live on NTA Network. A visibly excited NSE President, Engr. Mustapha Shehu Balarabe said, the engineers have done it again, adding that “this innovation from our engineers at NIGCOMSAT is commendable. It is novel and we are the pioneers, and this has proved that so many good things could come out of Nigeria and we engineers are pioneers in this regard of e-voting.”

He said engineers have done what could be adopted by government in future general elections that is likely to save the Country from incessant huge capital flights.

This, he said will free the Country from post-election rancour and litigations by those who lost and think that the elections have been rigged in favour of their opponents.

Chairman of the NSE Elections Committee, Engr. Charles Mbanefo said he was very happy with the outcome of the election “that it was online real-time made the committee’s job light because those who won and those who lost saw the transparency of the process. It was free and fair. Even people who were not at the venue monitored the election because it was web-based and results were updated real-time on the dedicated website for the election.” Mbanefo said that the NSE election which ran on the NIGCOMSAT developed e-voting system was a test-case and it was a very successful process.

e-Voting process in Nigeria

A total number of 1,313 voters registered while 1,033 were accredited to vote. The accreditation procedure was equally smooth.

President, Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), Dr. Chris Uwaje captured the situation this way: “It shows that indigenous technology is capable of meeting global competition. Now that NIGCOMSAT Limited has demonstrated this in very exemplary format, government should constitute a national e-voting committee. NIGCOMSAT should be commended.”

National Secretary, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr. Shuaibu Leman Usman in his reaction to the NIGCOMSAT breakthrough in NSE e-voting said “my view is that we should continue to look inward.  Satellite business is a very sensitive issue and Nigeria cannot continue to rely on foreign satellites.”

He described the e-voting election by NSE as a breakthrough for Nigeria. “I therefore commend NIGCOMSAT for this innovation and urge the company to partner with the media in this area for national development and for humanity.”

One of the candidates who eventually emerged as one of three Vice Presidents said he was overwhelmed by the e-voting system because it corrected several misgivings of the past.

Indeed, he said when he contested last year, he was sure of victory but something strange happened and he lost.

“But this e-voting system by NIGCOMSAT is comforting because every contestant knows his or her fate online real-time. This is very fantastic.”

NSE had earlier rejected manual voting hence the adoption of the e-voting which to most of them was fool-proof.

The e-voting platform was designed, developed and produced by the Micro Elections Centre (MEC) at NIGCOMSAT.