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Telecom

Reasons Smile Selected Ericsson for 4G/LTE Managed Services

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Smile Communications Nigeria officials at a recent event
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The coming together of like minds produces better results, and Nigeria CommunicationsWeek investigations showed that the prevailing factors for the first 4G/LTE managed services contract signed in Sub-Saharan Africa between Smile Communications Nigeria Limited and Ericsson Corporation about a week ago. ‎

The contract is in line with Smile Communications’ plan to outsource its network managed services and concentrate on rolling-out services to other cities across the country.

Accordingly, Smile Communications relying on its 800GHz spectrum has scheduled to roll-out services in three States in the third quarter of 2015, thereby requiring the expertise Ericsson represents to ensure unrivaled quality of service provisioning.

Smile presently in Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja and Port Harcourt is itching to launch 4G/LTE services in Benin, Kaduna and Enugu between August and October 2015.

Still on the purpose of the Smile/Ericsson contract agreement, Mrs. Alero Ladipo, chief marketing officer (CMO) of Smile Communications Nigeria Limited told Nigeria Communications in Lagos, that the Company is forward thinking in its approach to market penetration.

According to her, the Smile Communications has penchant interest in offering the customers the best quality of service.

Ladipo said, “Smile Communications is putting things together for the future. Our drives are geared towards, first of all, presenting good products to our customers. The Ericsson partnership is about good partnership. Initially, everyone was skeptical; you started well, will you finish well.

“The whole idea now is that Smile and Ericsson partnership is about continuously doing well and wherever there is an end it will continuously be good. So, that is key to: service perfection, product superiority and we are trying to maintain that. We are making people to understand that the use of data comes in the reach of everybody. And nobody should feel they cannot use data for whatever thing they want to do.

Now, data is being used in education, health, medicine, agriculture, et cetera., in fact no sector has not been impacted by data availability. We are also leading telemedicine approach in Nigeria through our partnership with First Consultant Medical Centre, Lagos; where you sit at home and say, ‘Doctor, my head is aching me’ and he pulls-up files and say maybe this and that are the issues. At that point, you need not to take a trip all the way to the doctor’s office”.

She added that the contract was part of the Company’s drives to moving Nigerians and the country forward.

Also speaking to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek, Mr. Tobe Okigbo, chief corporate services officer for Smile Communications Nigeria Limited, reiterated that the managed services contract, essentially means that each of the partners concentrate on their areas of expertise.

“Ericsson is an expert in the areas of developing a network. Therefore, Ericsson takes care of the network, Smile takes care of making sure that the services get to the people. It is symbiotic relationship that both will benefit from.

“Now, think about this: Smile’s spectrum is 800 and the LTE, currently, is the only genuine LTE in Nigeria. People are claiming they offer LTE; on 2.3MHz or 3.4MHz spectrum? Ours is on 800MHz, an innovative spectrum. So, the Smile Communications and Ericsson partnership means the coming together of the best to offer consumers the best. The brand promise at Smile is to offer the best and we are consistently pursuing the promise,” Okigbo said.

 


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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

MTN Says New N6.98 USSD Charge Won’t Affect Airtime Recharge

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Lynda Saint-Nwafor, chief Enterprise business officer, MTN Nigeria, has assured the network subscribers that the new end-user billing system for the use of USSD services will jot affect them.

MTN Says New N6.98 USSD Charge Won’t Affect Airtime Recharge

USSD, otherwise Unstructured Supplementary Service Data codes are commonly used for banking transactions, airtime recharges, and other mobile services.

The telco said that  there is no significant impact or change other than the fact that they will now pay the same N6.98 per session (120 seconds) with their airtime instead of direct bank debit.

Saint-Nwafor, said this during a chat with MTN MIP fellows, explaining that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have ordered telecom operators to ensure that the new billing model resolves trust issues and ensures transparency in the billing process.

“Our regulator insisted that at the end of every month, we are going to be providing history and statistics on the performance of the service across the board”, she explained.

Saint-Nwafor added that the new billing model has standardized messaging across all operators and ensures consistent communication with customers.

“We will take all the error codes and map them into messages that are standardised across the board. So, if you initiate a transaction, you will know if it is failing. And, when the transaction fails, you will know if it is from your bank or the telco,” she explained.

 


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Crypto Scam Unmasked: U.S. Recovers Record $225m in Global Fraud Bust

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The U.S. government has recovered $225 million in what is now the largest seizure of funds linked to a cryptocurrency investment scam.

In a statement released Wednesday, June 18, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said the recovery followed an extensive investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service, using blockchain analysis and other forensic tools. The statement did not confirm whether any arrests had been made.

According to the authorities, the stolen funds originated from fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes that tricked victims into believing they were making legitimate investments. More than 400 individuals around the world, including dozens in the United States, were reportedly affected.

The operation involved a sophisticated money laundering network that carried out hundreds of thousands of blockchain transactions to obscure the source and ownership of the stolen assets.

“These scams prey on trust, often resulting in extreme financial hardship for the victims,” said Shawn Bradstreet, Special Agent in Charge at the U.S. Secret Service office in San Francisco.

Bradstreet added that U.S. officials hope the recovered funds can eventually be returned to the rightful victims.

Cryptocurrency investment fraud accounted for over $5.8 billion in reported losses in 2024 alone, according to the statement.


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Nnaemeka Ani Calls on African Techies to Rewrite the Narrative

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Hon. Nnaemeka Ani
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In a rousing declaration that is electrifying minds across the continent, Hon. Nnaemeka Ani, Special Adviser on ICT to Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, has called for a homegrown digital revolution under the banner “Africa Will Rise: By Code, By Courage, By Us.”

Hon. Nnaemeka Ani

The message, part challenge, part philosophical—seeks to galvanize African innovators to move beyond buzzwords and build technology with impact and legacy in mind.

“Let’s stop building for hype. Let’s start building for legacy,” Ani urged while speaking to ICT journalists over the weekend. “Let’s stop waiting for someone else. Let’s start creating the future—on our own terms.”

At the heart of Ani’s vision is a shift from tech consumerism to tech authorship. With innovation hubs sprouting across cities like Enugu, Lagos, Kigali, Jo’Burg, and Nairobi, and a growing community of developers, engineers, and entrepreneurs determined to solve Africa’s unique challenges, the movement is already taking shape.

Ani emphasized that Africa’s future lies not in flashy apps or international admiration but in persistent, intentional solutions that uplift communities—solutions that digitize public services, bridge rural-urban divides, empower women and youth, and build resilience in food and climate systems.

“We have the talent,” he said. “Now it’s time to harness it—to stop building for likes and start building for lasting impact.”

With support from leaders like Ani and rising momentum in Africa’s tech corridors, it seems that a new chapter is being written—one line of code at a time.


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