Telecom
MTN, Opera Software Partner to Improve Internet Access
MTN, Opera Software and Naij, an online platform have announced a partnership that offers every mobile subscriber on MTN network in Nigeria the opportunity to enjoy free internet access.
Goke Olaegbe, country group head at Naij.com, said the platform purchased one million web passes on Opera Mini browser to be delivered to subscribers on the MTN network.
“This is a way through which we are trying to encourage more Nigerians to come online. As a company committed to providing engaging online content for Nigerians, we’re thrilled to also provide them with a day of mobile internet,” he said.
He added that through this initiative his company is helping to bring free mobile internet to Nigerians via the MTN network and this has been made possible through Opera’s Sponsored Web Pass, which allows operators to package their data in a user-friendly way. At the click of a button, users can get online and explore what the mobile internet has to offer.
Richard Monday, VP Africa for Opera Software, said this is the first time such an initiative would be deployed in any part of Africa to promote internet adoption.
According to him, while mobile penetration is high in Africa, internet penetration is still low as many low-end feature phone users are yet to experience internet. This set of people he said are the targeted beneficiaries of this offer – although every MTN subscriber is eligible for the offer.
“This is a first-of-its-kind initiative in Africa. MTN users will be able to activate their free day of internet and will be able to browse all websites using Opera Mini. Together with Naij and MTN, we are working together to boost mobile internet usage in Nigeria. Millions of Nigerians are yet to come online. And it’s only when they do so that internet-based businesses can reach more people. So this is an initiative that this market needs. And we are glad they are deploying this through the compression capabilities of the Opera Mini browser,” said.
“Connecting more people, wherever they are and helping them to do more with their data will always be in the forefront of what we do at Opera. Partnerships like this are key to achieving our goals.”
Whilst Nigeria’s mobile penetration is rapidly expanding, mobile data usage is still low at around 38%. Industry watchers said the initiative may not be enough to give targeted users a complete internet experience because of the fact that it does not support downloads or streaming actions – this is also in addition to the 10MB data cap.
However, they added that it could stimulate the curiosity of new mobile internet users.
“Like they said, they are not really targeting heavy internet users because there is basically nothing serious that such people can use with the 10MB. But for people who have not used the internet before, they can appreciate what they are missing when they are able to use websites such as Wikipedia and could search for stuffs online. The 24-hour free internet could spur them to go and buy more data to explore the internet further,” said Wale Ladipo, a tech reviewer.
On the part of MTN, Tsola Barrow, acting chief Enterprise Solutions Officer at MTN Business, said the network further supported the initiative as it in line with the network’s vision to deliver a bold, new digital world to its customers.
“It also underpins our mission to make the lives of customers on Africa’s largest network a whole lot brighter. We also truly believe in the power of bringing people online via the devices they use every day. Opera’s Sponsored Web Pass helps take the fear out of using mobile internet for the first time,” he said.
Naij.com’s Olaegbe added that similar offers could soon be announced for subscribers on other telecoms networks operating in Nigeria.
Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) is planning to encourage geo-political regions that grants zero charges for ‘Right of Way’ approvals as well not implementing arbitrary charges on telecommunications base stations in their regions with zero tariff.
Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, ALTON disclosed this to Nigeria CommunincationsWeek against the backdrop of incessant closure of base stations in some states.
He said that operators believe that the way out of this arbitrary charges and high cost of RoW approvals is regional tariffs.
“Operators are advocating for a regional tariff which means that geographical regions of Nigeria where cost of doing business for telecommunications operators is extremely high will attract high tariff compared to regions where there is low operating cost.
“Our advocacy of regional tariff is not based on a particular state but on regions. As at today there are regions where we have zero cost of “Right of Way” and low cost of doing business. Tariffs should reflect on operating environment. This means that national rate plan should consider high and low cost of doing business.
“If this is implemented, in a long run we could witness some regions having zero tariff because operational cost in such regions are friendly to operators,” he said.
It would be recalled that Kogi State recently shut down some operators’ base stations on account of local levies which raises the call for discriminatory tariff among geographical locations.
AVEVA, a global leader in industrial software driving digital transformation and sustainability in industries, today announces the appointment of Sébastien Ory, 48, as EMEA VP in charge of the partner and distributor network. VP of AVEVA Southern Europe since 2022 and President of AVEVA France since 2023, Sébastien now replaces Karine Calvet while remaining President of AVEVA France.
Sébastien Ory as EMEA VP Partners & Channels, AVEVA
In this new role, he will oversee the relationships with the various stakeholders involved in the distribution of AVEVA software and will have direct responsibility for more than forty employees spread across the EMEA region. Sébastien Ory will report directly to Jesus Hernandez, the new SVP of the EMEA region, who replaces Evgeny Fedotov, now CCO of RIB.
More than 18-year career in the industry
A graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique de Paris and the Institut National de l’Aéronautique (ISAE-SupAero) in Toulouse, Sebastien Ory is an active advocate for driving sustainable progress in the industrial sector.
He began his career at France Telecom as a sales manager where he stayed for 4 years before giving a more industrial dimension to his career.
With fifteen years of experience in the industrial automation industry, Sebastien Ory has developed a strategic understanding of this field. After 10 years in Schneider Electric’s industrial automation business, he led the global industrial software business development team for Schneider Electric Software from 2015 to 2018, with a particular focus on the water, power generation, mining and food industries. During these 3 years, the introduction of new software solutions will allow Schneider Electric Software to initiate and develop significant growth areas.
7 years at AVEVA
In 2018, Sébastien joined AVEVA as Vice President of the Southeast Asia region, leading a team of 200 talents in charge of delivering cloud-based industrial analytics and AI software. In addition to the growing developing the teams he leads from the Singapore headquarters, part of his energy is devoted to establishing direct engagement with leaders of major groups in the region such as Petronas, Pertamina, PTT, Wilmar and Olam, to stimulate their digital transformation initiatives.
In 2022, he took over the leadership of AVEVA’s activities in Southern Europe, a major industrial market for the company, whose customers, world leaders in the fields of Energy, Chemicals, Agri-food, Pharmaceuticals and Water, are looking for AVEVA’s expertise to accelerate and drive their digital transformation and sustainability strategies, as well as their energy transition projects. The changes he brings to the organization of the sales team are bearing fruit and allow AVEVA to acquire new customers while consolidating key accounts. As Sebastien transitions to the role of VP EMEA Partners & Channels, Dominique Bazin becomes the new Vice President of AVEVA Southern Europe.
EMEA VP Partners & Channels: a highly strategic position within AVEVA
Sébastien now holds the position of Vice President in charge of the Partners and Channels for AVEVA in Europe, Middle East and Africa, a major market for the company. His main mission is to design and implement a strategy for the growth of indirect sales, through a network of partners and strong alliances with Digital Services Companies (DSCs), AI platform providers and independent software vendors (ISVs) whose solutions are compatible with the CONNECT platform.
Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has hit back at Meta Platforms Inc, warning the tech giant that its threat to exit Nigeria will not erase its legal responsibilities or liabilities under the Nigerian law.
Meta said earlier today, May 3, that it “may be forced to effectively shut down the Facebook and Instagram services in Nigeria in order to mitigate the risk of enforcement measures.”
Meta’s warning came after it lost a legal bid last week to overturn a ₦220 million fine imposed by the FCCPC for violations of data protection and consumer rights laws.
Reacting to Meta’s threat, FCCPC, in a statement on Saturday, May 3, described Meta’s statement as “a calculated” move aimed at “inducing negative public reaction and potentially pressuring the FCCPC to reconsider its decision.”
FCCPC said that Meta threatening to leave Nigeria does not absolve the company of liabilities for the outcome of a judicial process.
“These infringements included denying Nigerians the right to control their personal data, transferring and sharing Nigerian user data without authorisation, discriminating against Nigerian users compared to users in other jurisdictions and abusing their dominant market position by forcing unfair privacy policies,” FCCPC wrote on X.
“Interestingly, Meta had been fined for similar breaches in Texas ($1.5b) and only recently was asked to pay $1.3 Billion for violating E.U. Data Privacy Rules.
Elsewhere in India, South Korea, France and Australia, Meta had faced varying penalties for similar breaches. But Meta never resorted to the blackmail of threatening to exit those countries. They obeyed.”
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