Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Connect with us

Telecom

Airtel, Trace Unveil Music Contest For 13 African Countries

Published

on

Segun Ogunsanya, CEO, Airtel Nigeria
Kindly share this post

‎Bharti Airtel, a leading telecommunications service provider with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, has today partnered with TRACE Music Star and global recording icon Akon to roll out the largest mobile musical competition in Africa.

Dubbed Airtel TRACE Music Star, the competition will be rolled out across 13 Countries in francophone and anglophone Africa where Airtel has a presence (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda Zambia, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Gabon).

Specifically, Airtel Nigeria is partnering with Trace, an International music video channel, to launch the unique mobile song contest, designed to empower Nigerian youths and create robust platforms for them to achieve their aspirations.

The competition tagged ‘Airtel Trace Music Star’ is a mobile song contest which will allow contestants to audition right from their phones and earn a chance of becoming the next big music star in Nigeria.

Contestants can participate by simply recording their song with an Airtel line, using a short code and will be aided by an interactive voice prompt.

The interactive voice prompt will be fortified with multi-lingual functionality including English and Pidgin which will assist in eliminating any language barrier and will enable youths from all parts of across Nigeria participate in the competition

Speaking on the initiative, Maurice Newa, chief commercial officer, Airtel Nigeria, noted that Airtel as a youth-centric telecoms company will be initiating the ‘Airtel Trace Music Star’ platform to empower Nigerian youths by giving  them opportunities to develop their innate skills and achieve their dreams.

He said: “Airtel is delighted to be associated with Trace in bringing excitement and providing entertainment opportunities for our teeming customers especially youths and the music lovers. This initiative is geared towards supporting and nurturing talents of Nigerian youth. In the next few weeks we will unveil the biggest platform for Nigerians to express their singing talent through their mobile phones from the comfort of any location they choose.

Olivier Laouchez, co-Founder, chairman and CEO of Trace Group, sees the collaboration as a perfect opportunity to showcase African youth talent to the rest of the world.

According to him, “We are tremendously excited about this pan African partnership with Airtel. Trace is dedicated to African youth and this ground breaking competition is a great step towards our joint goal of empowering African youth”.

As a pan-African initiative, the Airtel Trace Music competition is designed to hold simultaneously in other African countries where Airtel operates.

The winners from each participating country will then compete in a televised pan-African grand finale where the African champion will win a trip to the USA to be mentored by megastar Akon in addition to a professional music video and a record deal with Universal Music.

Airtel Nigeria has been in the forefront of empowering Nigerian youths through various credible platforms with the sponsorship of top entertainment and talent-hunt projects such as Nigeria’s Got Talent, which has provided opportunities for thousands of youths to take their skills to the next level.

The Telco also recently initiated another music talent show tagged ‘Airtel One Mic’ with the aim of discovering young talents in tertiary institutions across Nigeria.

Another robust platform created by Airtel Nigeria to empower youth is the yearly Airtel Rising Stars championship which was conceived to discover youths, both male and female, with football talent across Nigeria.

Trace, an international media group has deep African roots and is a major promoter of African music to the rest of the world.

It runs five music TV channels across Africa and currently, it airs videos by numerous A list African artistes in 160 countries globally through its network of music and sports celebrity TV channels. Trace Urban is available on DSTV Channel 322, while Trace Sports Stars is currently available on DSTV channel 188.

 

 

 


Kindly share this post

Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

Telecom

PAT Taps Osi as CEO

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Pan African Towers (PAT), a Nigerian infrastructure provider serving 9mobile and Spectranet, has appointed Echezona Osi as chief executive officer.

PAT Taps Osi as CEO

Echezona Osi

Adefolarin Ogunsanya, company’s, board chairman,  explained in a statement that Osi would succeed Oladipo Badru, whose tenure lasted nine months in acting CEO position. Osi has more than 28 years of experience in the telecommunications sector across various regions of Africa.

Prior to his appointment as CEO, he had served as the head of network deployment at Airtel Nigeria, operations director and chief technical information officer at MIC Tanzania, chief technology officer roles at IPT PowerTech Nigeria, Rhino Niger Networks and Biswal Nigeria.

He obtained a degree in electrical/ electronic engineering from the University of Benin and a postgraduate diploma in data science and business analytics from the University of Texas.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

Telecom

NCC Introduces N10m Licence Fee for Bulk SMS Service

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Companies sending bulk international text messages, also known as Application-to-Person (A2P) messages, will now have apply for a licence that costs N10 million.

NCC Introduces N10m Licence Fee for Bulk SMS Service

This is part of new rules introduced by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) aimed at cleaning up the system, fighting fraud, blocking spam messages and stopping money from leaving the country unchecked.

These A2P messages are the kind customers get from banks, online stores, hospitals and political campaigns, automated texts sent from apps to their phones.

According to the commission, the bulk international text message system has been poorly regulated, allowing misuse and invasion of privacy.

“The International SMS Service Ecosystem in Nigeria has not been fully brought under regulatory control. It has been observed that the excessive use of the Short Message Service has led to fraud, spam and illegal activities,” the NCC said.

The regulator warned that without action, the problem would worsen as more people use mobile phones and digital services.

To solve this, the NCC is creating a central platform, or gateway, through which all international bulk text messages must pass through.

The agency said this would help to monitor messages in real time, ensure proper fees are paid, and make sure the money stays in Nigeria where it can contribute to the economy.

As part of the incoming change, service providers must follow strict rules, including strong data protection, spam filters, and message encryption.

Also, they must also work with local mobile networks and make sure all messages come from a verified sender

The NCC warned that any message without a proper sender ID will be blocked and not delivered to users.

To protect users from unwanted texts, the new rules say companies must get clear permission before sending any promotional content.

The rule also says people must also be able to choose whether they want to receive such messages or not.

Companies are now required to keep records of all messages for at least six months and must clearly state all charges involved.

The NCC said fees for help requests, cancellations, or service info must be transparent and not include hidden charges.

The commission will issue licences to several providers to encourage healthy competition but may limit new licences if needed.

Only companies that show they can stop fraud and safely deliver messages will be allowed to operate. They must also regularly report their message traffic and finances to the NCC.

It warned that any company that breaks the rules risks getting fined, suspended, or having its licence revoked.

Offences like charging illegal tariffs, ignoring security rules, or avoiding taxes will be punished, the NCC said.

The commission added that the new rules follow the Nigerian Data Protection Act 2023 and support the federal government’s goal of strengthening cybersecurity and controlling Nigeria’s digital space.

The framework will also be reviewed from time to time to keep up with new technology and market trends.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

Telecom

MTN Nigeria Targets $1Bn Cloud Market with Largest Modular Data Centre

Published

on

Kindly share this post

MTN Nigeria has launched what it claims is the country’s largest prefabricated modular data centre, marking a bold push into the country’s fast-growing cloud market and taking aim at global giants such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

MTN Nigeria Targets $1Bn Cloud Market with Largest Modular Data Centre

Karl Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria.

The shift comes as demand for cloud services in Nigeria soars — driven by the uptake of mobile apps, fintech tools and e-learning platforms — while foreign providers have become costlier in the wake of the naira’s sharp devaluation.

“This is one of the biggest data centres in West Africa and probably one of the biggest in Africa,” said Karl Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria.

He described the new Tier III-certified facility, with locally hosted cloud services, as “transformative for the technology ecosystem in Nigeria and very supportive of the federal government’s agenda”.

MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest telecoms provider, has so far invested $120m in the first phase, delivering an IT load of 4.5MW. A second phase, set to double capacity to 9MW, is budgeted at $135m.

“We already have data centres that are running our existing capacities,” Toriola said.

“We will go to 9MW in short order, possibly 14MW, and we can expand even further.”

He said the facility would allow local hosting for tech developers, large enterprises including banks and oil companies, and government agencies — markets long dominated by foreign cloud providers.

“Multinational companies such as Netflix, Facebook and Instagram can also host a lot of their data here. That improves the quality of service and reduces the cost of storage,” he added.

 


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

Trending