E-Business
Swift Networks revives Cybercafes with Broadband Internet Access
Swift Networks in its recently launched highly successful Hotspot service in Lagos has packaged a variant of the service for Cybercafes. This new service addresses a major challenge that prevents the Cybercafe segment from attaining its full potential in the Nigerian telecom services delivery.
According to Jacquie Onyejiaka-Nwandu, general manager, Sales and Marketing at Swift Networks, ‘many Cybercafes cannot afford nor pay consistently for adequate bandwidth required to run their operations due to low investments and consistent pressure on their cash flows.
The result she said is very slow and unreliable service that frustrates its customers. “What we bring to these operators through our new service is access to the right equipment and adequate internet bandwidth that enable them to deliver the kind of speed and service that will differentiate them from the average Cybercafe. The Operator only pays for the bandwidth used in smaller “pay-as-you-go” chunks as they resell both broadband speed internet and voice services to their patrons. The service package comes also with a user management system for revenue assurance and accountability,” she said.
She added that Swift will start the initiative with Cybercafes with good management and operating experience and to who access to adequate bandwidth capacity will result in immediate and measurable transformation.
Swift she assured will not own any or go into Cybercafe business itself but will work with serious operators to make them more successful and profitable.
Qualifying Cybercafe operations will be connected via Swift’s metro Fibre optic and Microwave Access infrastructure in Lagos for the full speed effect. They will also be equipped with WiFi routers so that people with laptops can work and download files directly wirelessly at very high speed.
Swift Networks is a provider of reliable, broadband data, Internet and Phone Services to enterprise, small and medium enterprises, including many of Nigerian leading banking, oil and Gas, manufacturing and service companies.
Swift currently operates in Lagos State but has received spectra in the licensed 3.5GHz frequency to operate in Rivers State and The Federal Capital Territory. Swift also has an extensive network of optic fibre and microwave access infrastructure in Lagos.
E-Business
OpenAI CEO Rejects $97.4Bn Takeover Bid from Elon Musk
Sam Altman, chief executive of ChatGPT-owner OpenAI, has firmly declared the company “not for sale” following a $97.4bn (£78.4bn) takeover bid from a consortium led by Elon Musk.
Speaking at the AI Action Summit in Paris, Altman emphasised OpenAI’s mission to develop AGI (artificial general intelligence) for the benefit of humanity.
Marc Toberoff, attorney for Elon Musk, confirmed the bid submission on Monday.
In response, Altman humorously offered to buy Twitter for $9.74 billion on Musk’s platform.
Unlike many tech giants, OpenAI is not publicly traded but operates through a complex partnership between non-profit and for-profit entities.
Musk aims to return OpenAI to its non-profit roots, despite owning a rival firm, xAI.
Christie Pitts, a tech investor, expressed scepticism about Musk’s intentions, noting his competitive interests.
Altman echoed this sentiment, suggesting Musk’s move disregards OpenAI’s mission.
Altman, who holds no stock in OpenAI, advocates transforming the organisation into a fully for-profit company to raise more funds for AI research.
Although the board has the final say, the $97.4bn offer falls short of OpenAI’s previous $157bn valuation and rumoured $300bn in future funding talks.
Toberoff stated the consortium might increase their bid. Meanwhile, OpenAI is collaborating with Oracle, a Japanese investment firm, and an Emirati sovereign wealth fund on “The Stargate Project,” a $500 billion AI infrastructure initiative announced by President Donald Trump.
E-Business
Adobe Launches AI Video Tool to Compete with OpenAI
Adobe yesterday released the first public version of an artificial intelligence tool that can generate video clips and revealed how much it will charge, but said it will not set pricing for major users such as studios until later this year.
The Firefly Video Model, as Adobe is calling the service, will compete against Sora, a model developed by ChatGPT creator OpenAI, and startup Runway, both of which currently offer video-generation services. Facebook owner Meta Platforms has also developed a video-generation AI model but has not given a timeline for when it will be released.
Adobe’s model differs from its rivals because it is geared toward generating clips that will fit into how film and television studios use Premiere Pro, its flagship video editing software.
To that end, many of the features that Adobe is emphasizing revolve around feeding existing shots into the video model and asking it to generate clips that fix or expand on shots that were taken on a real production set but that did not come out quite right.
Adobe said the service will generate five-second clips at 1080p resolution. While that is shorter than the clips of up to 20 seconds generated by OpenAI’s service, Adobe executives said the majority of individual clips in most productions are only three seconds.
Adobe said a user can generate 20 clips per month for $9.99 and 70 clips for $29.99. That compares with 50 videos for $20 per month with OpenAI’s plan at lower resolution and a $200 OpenAI plan that can handle longer, higher resolution videos.
Adobe is also working on a “Premium” pricing plan for studios and other high-volume video users and will release those pricing details later this year. Alexandru Costin, Adobe’s vice president of generative AI, said the company is working to generate 4K video and will remain focused on quality rather than longer clips.
“We actually think that great motion, great structure, great definition scheme, making the actual clip look like it was film, is more important than making a longer clip that’s unusable,” Costin told Reuters.
E-Business
GSMA Launches Innovation Fund to Boost AI Solutions in Emerging Markets
GSMA Innovation Fund for Impactful AI has been unveiled, marking a significant initiative aimed at empowering small and growing enterprises in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) across Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific.
This fund is designed to foster AI-driven innovations that tackle critical socio-economic and climate challenges, helping underserved regions unlock the transformative potential of artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence has proven its ability to address pressing global issues, from precision agriculture and renewable energy to remote healthcare and financial inclusion.
Yet, LMICs remain underserved in funding and resources, with only a small percentage of global grants directed toward locally-developed AI solutions.
Despite the growth of AI-driven technologies, these advancements are often not tailored to the unique needs of local populations in LMICs.
The GSMA Innovation Fund seeks to close this gap by identifying, testing, and scaling impactful AI solutions that are contextually relevant and capable of delivering measurable socio-economic and climate benefits.
In partnership with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), the GSMA Innovation Fund provides a comprehensive support package to selected enterprises. Key benefits include:
Grant Funding: Ranging from £100,000 to £250,000 for projects lasting 15–18 months.
Tailored Venture Support: Guidance to strengthen business models and improve scalability.
Partnership Opportunities: Facilitation of collaborations with mobile operators, public sector organizations, and other stakeholders.
Peer Learning: Platforms for exchanging knowledge and best practices with other innovators.
Visibility and Exposure: Access to GSMA’s global events, publications, and online platforms to connect with potential investors and partners.
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