44 — Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2013
ICT BRIEF Stanbic IBT C of IBTC offfer erss discount on DS DSTT V Mobile through MobileMoney
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ajor sponsor of the AFCON 2013 tournament, Standard Bank and Stanbic IBTC Bank which represents Standard Bank in Nigeria, is in partnership with DStv Mobile to offer discounted rates on the DStv Mobile devices to its new and existing customers through MobileMoney. According to the Managing Director, MultiChoice Nigeria, Mr. John Ugbe soccer fans will enjoy all 32 matches from the 5 host cities of the tournament as they will be broadcast live on DStv Mobile. Also, General Manager DStv, Mr. Mayo Okunola, explained that the Stanbic IBTC Bank offer on the Drifta device is going for a very low rate of N11, 000, the Drifta USB at N7, 000; the Walka 3.5 is going at an amazing rate of N15 000; the iDrifta will be sold at N8,000 while the latest Walka 7 device is going for N17,000. All purchased devices come with three months free subscription as well as two dedicated SuperSport channels for the AFCON live matches. MobileMoney from Stanbic IBTC Bank is a mobile payment account, introduced for the customer ’s convenience which takes away the need to carry cash with you. You can purchase various products, make transfers, buy airtime, pay your bills, and get a free debit card. Meanwhile Head, E l e c t r o n i c Business, Stanbic IBTC Bank; Thabo Makoko, said that “MobileMoney is banking on the go and we trust that this partnership with DStv Mobile will make it easier and more affordable to purchase the products while giving soccer fans the convenience to watch the African Cup Of Nation games as well as their favorite TV shows, anytime and anywhere”.
STORIES BY PRINCE OSUAGWU
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igeria seems to be having two major problems as far as internet penetration is concerned. One is that of low penetration, another is poor women participation on the web. Recently, the Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson lamented that Internet penetration was still low in the country. She was astonished that over 7.78 terabyte of internet capacity was lying untapped at the shores of the country, while Internet penetration in the country remains at the lowest ebb. For her, taking this capacity to the hinterlands through last-mile connectivity would remain the challenge to conquer to address the abysmal Internet penetration in the country. In addition to this headache, a recent research conducted by Intel and Dalberg, titled: “Women and the web,” presented at the just concluded Working Forum on Women Information and Communication Technologies And Development (WICTAD) conference in Washington DC, U.S.A, revealed that nearly 35 per cent fewer women than men in South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa have Internet Access, and nearly 30 per cent in parts of Europe and across Central Asia. The report also dropped a bombshell: “On the average, across the developing world, nearly 25 per cent fewer women than men have access to the Internet, and the gender gap soars to nearly 45 per cent in regions like subSaharan Africa. In rapidly growing economies, the gap is even enormous”. This means that despite the transformative power of the internet, in these fast growing
Star musician, Mr. Olubankole Wellington (Banky W), Managing Director, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Brovo Kim and Nollywood actress, Ms. Kate Henshaw, at the unveiling of Kate Henshaw and Banky W as 2013 Brand Ambassadors for Samsung Electronics West Africa and launch of Samsung Galaxy Grand Pre-order Campaign at Westown Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos.
Nigerian women kick, poise to bridge internet gender divides economies, including Nigeria, women and girls are being left behind in the revolution. According to a research In most higherincome countries, women’s Internet access only minimally lags that of men’s, and in countries such as France and the United States, it in fact, exceeds it. According to the report, “there are 600 million women and girls in developing countries using the Internet today, which is nearly 25 per cent fewer than men” The report couldn’t have been lying. Nigeria with about $7 billion investments in four major submarine cables including MainOne, Glo1, SAT3 and WACS carrying over 7.78 terabytes bandwidth capacity, still records low Internet penetration. This is considering that out of about
160 million Nigerians, only 45 millions have access to the Internet at the moment and this 45 million users are dominated by 90 per cent of the male folks, leaving the remaining, paltry 10 per cent for the women. That’s a huge gap. But right at the conference, Nigerian women rose to the occasion, kicking and promised to take the crusade up to relevant authorities to ensure the divide is bridged. 2012 statistics on Internet Usage and population, according to Internet World Stats ranked Africa least among continents with Internet penetration. Internet World Stats estimated that there are 2.4 billion Internet users globally, but access was not equally dispersed, stressing that developing countries in particular lag behind.
MTN backs NCC on Mobile N umber Por Number Porttability TN Nigeria, last week declared that it the whistle for the kick off of this project, we M was ready to implement Mobile Number will be ready.” Portability (MNP) in consonance with the policy of the industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The declaration came at the heels of the regulator’s recent announcement that it would flag off Mobile Number Portability in the first quarter of this year. Speaking at an internal stakeholder forum recently, MTN CEO, Brett Goschen, said that the company had been ramping up efforts to make MNP a reality for mobile phone users in Nigeria. Goschen said: “We have made necessary investment in infrastructure and manpower and we are now finalising the process of making this project a reality,” said Goschen. “We are confident that when the NCC is ready to blow
He however disclosed that a series of tests had been carried out on the company’s systems and infrastructure, adding that more tests will be carried out in the days ahead to ensure that the project takes off without any hitch. ” We are excited that customers who wish to join the network with the most coverage of Nigeria will now be able to do so without worrying about losing their mobile numbers. As you know, we have made far more investment in our network than any other operator in Nigeria has done, with the result that we are today the clear leader with effective network coverage of more than 85 percent of Nigeria’s land mass and population.
President of Women in Technology in Nigeria (WITIN), Mrs. Martha AladeOmoekpen who was also a speaker at the WICTAD conference, said the Internet offers potentially transformative benefits, adding that there are myriads of concrete benefits for the female folks from the Internet She listed some of them to include access to improved education, job opportunities, access to health and other services. She said the Internet provides users more subtle but profound benefits related to empowerment, confidence, a sense of connection and participation, even a feeling of liberation. But she however noted that if the gap between men and women Internet usage must be bridged, there was need for adequate sensitisation on its benefits, She said that “once achieved, all these benefits to individual women and girls create positive outcomes for their communities and countries, through their impact on economic development, gender equality, and the growth that can result from a greater diversity of ideas and political participation” . The WITIN president also contended that access to the Internet can facilitate specific ends, stressing that Internet access provides more subtle, longer-term benefits around empowerment, such as increased confidence, external validation and expression.