Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014—27
Your calls may soon be monitored
...as NCC sets to unveil guidelines on call monitoring
By Emmanuel Elebeke
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N view of the unstable security situation in the country, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, says security agencies will soon commence monitoring of all calls to enhance their operational activities in the country. This Commission announced this recently at a special edition of Consumer Outreach programme organized by the commission at IBB Golf Club, Maitama, Abuja. According to the commission, plans are in the offing to come up with a guideline that will guide the take-off of the plan in such a way that no subscriber’s right or privacy would be breached in the process. Though, the Commission promised to ensure full protection of the rights of every consumer through the proposed guidelines, it however noted that there is no enabling law at the moment to guide the operators on such powers and called for a quick enactment of legislations to give the proposed guideline a legal backing by the time the implementation proper kicks off. According to the commission’s legal adviser, Mrs. Yetunde Akinloye, “In view of the worrisome security situation in the country, the security agencies are about to key into peoples’ conversation. We as a regulatory agency are coming with guidelines that will guide the operators on this. Though, at the moment, we do not have a law to guide how the operators should keep consumers privacy in conversation, we also need this guideline. to enhance the smooth implementation of the plan.” Recall that last year Senator Isa Galaudu, PDP Kebbi North sponsored a bill entitled A Bill for an Act to Provide for Interception, Development and Pro-
tection of Communications Networks and Facilities for Public Interest and Other Related Matters 2013. The bill seeks to give legal backing to relevant national
chief security officers, national security agency, Department of State Services and Police to intercept communications considered prejudicial to national security or public interest. The bill passed second reading in the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly and was referred to the Senate committees on Communication, Judiciary and National Security for further legislative input. However, though the bill generated serious condemnations from different quarters going by wide spread fears of privacy breach it could bring about, it received overwhelming support in the Senate, in September last year. But the NCC is promising that the soon to be released guidelines will take care of fears of privacy breach and ensure that the process does not affect genuine conversations.
Globacom gets rights to sell internet bundle Apple products By Richard Udofia
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IGERIA’s second national carrier, Globacom re cently signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with Core Group Africa, a representative of Apple product in Africa as part of its commitment towards providing quality products to customers. The agreement, gives Glo the right to sell internet bundled Apple devices like iPhone5s, iPad mini and iPad air to customers. The internet bundle according to the parties will have one year data access At the unveiling in Lagos, Head of GloWorld, Mrs. Titi Ebinisi said this synergy would create a platform for lovers of quality products to enjoy Globacom Internet services through Glo Bolt and other platforms. Ebinisi added that “the strategic partnership will remove the burden of worrying about how to get authentic Apple devices and how to activate full functionalities of the devices.” She reassured subscribers of future innovative products and services at pocket-friendly rates, urging that customers should always buy products from authorized dealers to prevent buying of substandard products. The Country Manager of Core Group Africa, Mr. Sachin Verma, said that the partnership is a sign that more Nigerian Telecom market is bound to experience more partnership from different brands. He congratulated Globacom for the success attained so far in the industry and urged them to explore more as teeming consumers are happy to be associated with the brand. Verma promised, that through this partnership, customers are assured of getting quality Apple products at the right prices.
Corehead shortlisted for Project Inspire final By Richard Udofia
DTH-FTA, Nigeria’s only hope of meeting digital migration deadline — Experts By Laju Arenyeka
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ANY stakeholders have expressed fears that Nigeria may not meet the June 2015 deadline for countries to switch over to digital broadcasting, as stipulated by the International Telecommunications Union, ITU. This is following challenges which seem to be endless: the deadline is short, and the required funds are large. But one thing on which stakeholders do not differ, is the fact digitization of the broadcast industry is indispensable. This was the motive behind the Broadcast Summit 2014 which held in Lagos recently, where facilitators agreed that the Directto-Home, Free-to-Air, DTHFTA; option is the way to go. The summit, which was organized by SES, a global satellite operator in conjunction with the Computer Warehouse Group, CWG, also doubled as the launch of new digital television platform, on SES’s ASTRA 2F satellite, at 28.2 de-
grees—a joint venture of both companies. The CEO of CWG, Mr Austin Okere, told HiTech, that the DTH is the primary way by which Nigeria might be able to meet the 2015 deadline set by the ITU. He said: "The digital migration is a move that the stations will have to do soon. And this platform will make it easier for Nigerian Television stations to switch over and cheaper for subscribers to adapt." Mr. James Agada, chief technology officer, CWG Plc, expounding on the platform said: “The brand new digital ‘Direct To Home’ (DTH) free-to-air platform is ultimately designed to help accelerate and alleviate the challenges broadcasters and content owners face in the digital migration process. The platform is packaged as an innovative approach in order to address the challenges of the cost of migration, operation, operational and support challenges, platform agility and flexibility and platform neutrality.”
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NE of Nigeria’s business enterprises, which uses mobile platform to give entrepreneurial empowerment and business expansion orientation to women, Corehead Business Solutions, has been selected to compete in the final stage of the Project Inspire 2014 competition. The competition is a project spearheaded by Singapore Committee for UN Women in collaboration with MasterCard. It is also supported by global consulting firm Bain & Company and academic partner INSEAD. The project is fully known as “Project Inspire: 5 Minutes to Change the World.” This year’s campaign attracted over 500 submissions from 70 countries around the world. Launched in 2011, the project is a joint initiative which seeks to support laudable ideas to improve the lives of women and girls in the society. Applicants aged 18-35 were asked to submit a sustainable idea to improve the lives of women and girls in Asia/Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, for the chance to win a US$25,000 grant to help implement their project in the field. Other finalists showcased a range of innovative ideas, including a pumpkin-farming enterprise targeting single mothers in Uganda, a menstrual hygiene initiative in rural India, an Australian project providing financial support to female refugees, a Cambodian-Singaporean venture which helps sex workers transition out of the sex industry and run a small business, and a food-processing plant which funds a homeless refuge in Zimbabwe. According to the President, Singapore Committee for UN Women, Trina Liang-Lin, “2014’s entry guidelines were significantly more stringent than in previous years but that didn’t deter potential applicants. With this year garnering the highest calibre of submissions we’ve ever received, we couldn’t be prouder of the incredible work that is being done by youth around the world to empower women and girls,”