Telecom
NITDA, Cloudflex, Rackcenter Back NITRA Technology Forum 2021
Stakeholders in the Cloud Hosting services have started to line up in support of the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association’s (NITRA) Technology Forum 2021, which holds on May 27, in Lagos, Nigeria.
The event has received backing from the nation’s information technology regulator, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); Cloud services operator, Cloudflex and premier data center operator, Rackcenter.
NITRA Technology Forum 2021, which will be chaired by Mr. Muhammed Rudman, chief executive officer, Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), has its theme as: ‘Achieving 30% Growth In Local Cloud Hosting By 2024’, and will x-ray growth potentials, challenges and benefits of hosting Cloud services and data centers locally. It will also look at policies and regulation around the sub-sector.
Mr. Chike Onwuegbuchi, Chairman of NITRA, while commending the partners for their support of the event and passion for the growth of technology in Nigeria, noted that over the years, the country has been grappling with the need to secure its data and further boost local content in all sectors of the economy.
while key stakeholders are concerned about how the sector is faring in this area, and how it can achieve local hosting of our sensitive data.
He insists that growth in every facet of the nation’s economy should be inside-out.
“Specifically, the Forum will offer Cloud service companies, data infrastructure companies and other stakeholders, opportunities to reach out to their target market with solutions that addresses their challenges and needs,” he assured.
NITDA was created in April 2001 to implement the Nigerian Information Technology Policy and co-ordinate general IT development in the country.
National Information Technology Development Act (2007) mandates the Agency to create a framework for the planning, research, development, standardization, application, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and regulation of Information Technology practices, activities and systems in Nigeria.
Its role therefore is to develop, regulate and advise on Information technology in the country through regulatory standards, guidelines and policies.
Additionally, NITDA is the clearing house for all IT projects and infrastructural development in the country.
Rack Centre is a carrier neutral Tier III Constructed Facility Certified data centre that focuses solely on providing best in class data centre colocation services and unrestricted interconnect between carriers and customers.
This gives customers a technically superior, physically more secure and lower cost environment for their information systems.
Rack Centre’s carrier neutrality allows customers to manage traffic to get better value, lower latency and higher resilience, and creates an open market for partnerships between customers, networks, cloud and content providers, the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria and managed service providers.
Rack Centre clients include 40 telecommunication carriers, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), global Tier 1 networks and pan Africa international carriers, including direct connection to all 5 undersea cables serving the South Atlantic Coast of Africa and every country on the Atlantic coast of Africa.
CloudFlex Computing Limited is Nigeria’s’ leading Enterprise local cloud service Provider.
“We are the first choice of Cloud Solutions and managed data services for local and Global businesses with great ambitions”.
The company offers Information Technology as a service.
The services range from Cloud services, Co-location, Managed solutions, Backup services, Disaster Recovery, among others; and support for diverse infrastructure need by providing Industry-specific Solutions.
The company is based on the principle of developing and delivering top of the line Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) solutions to meet the need of our existing and prospective clients.
MTN Nigeria Communications PLC has announced that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has approved the renewal of the spectrum lease agreement between MTN Nigeria and Natcom Development and Investment Limited (NTEL).
Uto Ukpanah, Company Secretary in a statement released recently said that the agreement covers the lease of NTEL’s 5MHz frequency division duplex (FDD) in the 900MHz spectrum band and 10MHz FDD in the 1800MHz spectrum band, which spans 19 states.
The renewal is for another two-year period, effective 1 May 2025. Additionally, the NCC has approved a one-year lease expansion of the spectrums, covering the remaining 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), effective 1 January 2025.
Commenting on the transactions, MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola said, “We are pleased with the renewal of the spectrum lease agreement with NTEL, which now includes coverage for all states, including the FCT.
“The lease enables us to enhance our 3G and 4G user experience as we improve coverage and capacity by utilising the spectrums.
“This positions us to capitalise on the growing demand for data and improve the delivery of services to our customers.”
Nigeria’s technology company, Globacom, has extended warm felicitations to Nigerians on the occasion of the 2024 Christmas celebrations.
In a goodwill message released in Lagos, Globacom urged Nigerians to embrace the spirit of love and kindness during the festive season, especially in the face of prevailing economic challenges.
The company emphasized the importance of practicing the teachings of Jesus Christ, particularly the virtues of obedience to God and loving one’s neighbor as well.
“Christ taught many virtues including obedience to God and loving one’s neighbour as oneself”, the company said, adding, “Now is the apt time to practise these teachings by sharing with the needy”.
Globacom also encouraged Nigerians to extend the conviviality of Christmas beyond the festive season by fostering love, peace, and harmony, as demonstrated by God through the birth of Jesus Christ.
Assuring its customers of uninterrupted services throughout the Yuletide period and beyond, Globacom urged them to take advantage of its innovative products and services to stay connected and share the memories of the season with loved ones.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have ordered Deposit Money Banks and Mobile Network Operators to settle the long-standing N250bn USSD debt dispute before January 2, 2025.
The CBN and NCC also directed banks to pay the pre-Application Programming Interfaces (API) debt before July 2, 2025.
They also ordered that post-API debts be settled before December 31, 2024.
The directive was issued in a joint cirular titled, “2nd Joint Circular of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission on the Resolution of the USSD Debt Issue Between Deposit Money Banks and Mobile Network Operators.”
The circular dated December 20, 2024, was signed by Oladimeji Taiwo, acting director of the Payments System Management Department, CBN, and Chizua Whyte, head of Legal and Regulatory Services, NCC.
The regulators said, “In view of the foregoing, the CBN and the NCC hereby direct DMBs and MNOs as follows: 1. That 60 per cent of all pre-API invoices must be paid as full and final settlement.
“Payment plans (lump sum or installments) must be agreed upon between a concerned DMB and MNO by January 2, 2025. Installments must be based on equal monthly payments, with full payment due by July 2, 2025.
“DMBs must pay 85 per cent of all outstanding invoices issued after the implementation of APIs (i.e., February 2022) by December 31, 2024.
“Similarly, 85 per cent of future invoices must be liquidated within one month of service.”
According to the regulators, the transition to end-user billing will be activated only for DMBs and MNOs that comply with the payment conditions cobtained in the circular.
CBN and the NCC said they would provide further guidance on public enlightenment initiatives related to the transition.
The regulators also directed MNOs to implement the “10-seconds rule” for USSD invoicing.
This implies that any session lasting less than ten seconds will not be billable.
The regulators added, “Failure to comply with the terms outlined in this directive will attract necessary sanctions, ensuring that both DMBs and MNOs uphold their obligations.”
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