THREE NETWORKING PARADIGMS THAT WOULD AFFECT BUSINESS IN TODAYS ECONOMY

At a time when IT budgets remain relatively flat, IT organisations are faced with a number of major shifts in networking that cannot be ignored. Finding ways to keep pace with this shifting landscape and the rapid drumbeat of innovation is a challenge certainly, but even for those without limitless budgets, it’s not one which has to prove insurmountable. IT organisations must be pragmatic but also consider their technology choices carefully, protecting existing investments through the use of open technologies and looking at which projects need to be prioritised in line with the business’ priorities.


Broadly speaking there are three major trends within the networking space that are currently shaping the industry; convergence, distributed networking and software defined networks. These topics are not new to the table, but having been discussed for some time, they are now beginning to hit the mainstream in terms of the maturity of the technology and where they are on the corporate agenda.

BATN sustains agriculture sector development contributions in rural Nigeria ….. Rewards 209 Farmers at the 2013 BATN/BATIA Productivity Awards

 L-R: Aare of Ago Are, His Royal Highness Jubril Olagoke, Award recipient, Mr Toriola Adigun and Area Head, Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, British American Tobacco West Africa, Mr Freddy Messanvi at the BATN/BATIA Farmers Productivity Awards Ceremony in Iseyin, Oyo State.

British American Tobacco Nigeria on February 21, 2013 rewarded 209 deserving farmers as part of the 8^th annual British American Tobacco Iseyin Agronomy Farmers Productivity Awards Scheme.

The Farmers’ Productivity Awards Scheme is an initiative of British American Tobacco Iseyin Agronomy, a subsidiary of British American Tobacco Nigeria designed to improve the farmers’ productivity in terms of quality and volume of yield, as well as encourage their adherence to principles of environmental protection. Provisions of the program to farmers include technical support ,farming inputs, environment management, fair pricing through transparent and assured negotiations, socio-economic development and alternative sources of income through crop rotation which allows the farmers to plant other food crops have been in place since 2005.

Etisalat Group Offers Low-Cost Access to Social Media and Email via USSD to Emerging Markets....Partnership With Mahindra Comviva Makes Rich Web Applications Available On All Phones

Millions of mobile users owning basic mobile phones across Africa and Asia are now able to join the online community using a new low-cost USSD messaging service from Etisalat. This will provide access to email, social networking and messaging services, to basic mobile devices and feature phones at very affordable prices.

Etisalat Supports Quality Healthcare Delivery in Ekiti… donates 20KvA generator to Aramoko Ekiti General Hospital

The General Hospital, Aramoko, Ekiti State last week received a donation of a brand new 20kva generator from Etisalat Nigeria to aid its healthcare delivery services. The donation is part of the community relations initiatives of the fastest growing and most innovative telecommunication company, Etisalat Nigeria that has seen the company intervene in several key areas within its host communities across Nigeria.

Etisalat Capital Markets Day focuses on Providing Best In Class Customer Experience for Retail and Business

Etisalat, the leading emerging markets telecom group, with operations in 16 countries yesterday provided an update on its 2012 business, financial and commercial overview as well as the group’s strategy and regulatory environment at its annual Capital Markets Day event held at the Jumeriah Hotel, Abu Dhabi, focusing on its drive for growth of broadband and digital services through innovation, cost savings and productivity improvements.

Etisalat Renews Sponsorship Agreement

Etisalat Group, the leading telecommunications operator in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and FC Barcelona today announced the renewal of a four-year partnership agreement. The deal means the UAE-based company is FC Barcelona official partner in the UAE, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, Niger, Gabon and Central Africa Republic.

The contract was signed during Mobile World Congress 2013 – a major event for the telecommunications industry taking place in Barcelona – at FC Barcelona’s stadium, Camp Nou, by Mr Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, CEO of the Etisalat Group and Sandro Rosell, the president of FC Barcelona. They were accompanied by Steven Evans, Etisalat’s CEO for Nigeria, Khalid Al Kaf, CEO for Mobily (which operates in Saudi Arabia), Nagi Abboud, CEO for Atlantique Telecom, its Chief Regional Officer for Africa, Essa Al Haddad and Rainer Rathgeber, Etisalat Group’s Chief Commercial Officer.

Pictures from Etisalat, Generator Commissioning At Aramoko, Ekiti

  Chief Medical Director, General Hospital, Aramoko, Ekiti, Dr. Kayode Ogunjobi; Specialist, Government Relations, Etisalat Nigeria, Abbas Ismail; Chairman, Communications Committee, Ekiti West Federal Constituency 2, of the Federal House of Representatives, Hon. Oyetunde Ojo and His Royal Majesty, Alara of Aramoko, Ekiti, Oba Adeyemi, at the Commissioning of a 27KvA Generator, Donated by Etisalat Nigeria to Aramoko Ekiti General Hospital, Aramoko Ekiti, on Monday, 18^th February, 2013.

Oral-B continues its mobile dental clinic program

 Brand Operations Integration Leader, P&G, Mokutima Ajileye; Celebrity Endorser, Sidney Esiri (aka Dr. SID); and Brand Operations Integration Manager, P& G, Titilola Adetunji at the on-going Oral-B mobile dental clinic program organized to support oral health  by Procter and Gamble Nigeria held in Lagos  recently. 

Procter and Gamble(P&G), the world’s largest manufacturer of household goods has begun another phase of its ‘Oral-B mobile dental clinic’ program. The new phase of the program features traditional elements of the mobile clinic such as dental health checks by accredited dentists, in additional to the new‘Oral–B Winning Mouth Test’ which asks consumers to express why their dental hygiene routine leads to having a winning mouth.

Pampers builds capability of paediatricians in Nigeria; will sponsor up to 7 pediatric doctors to the United States for training and research.

Pampers, one of the leading brands of Procter & Gamble, announced that it will sponsor 7 Nigerian pediatric doctors to the United States of America (USA) for Observership and research scholar programs. This was announced at a press conference today in Enugu as part of the 44^th Annual conference of the Paediatric association of Nigeria

The program; called the Nurturing Childrens Development program is a partnership between Pampers and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) with an objective of contributing towards improvement in the healthy development of infants and children worldwide. The program, fully funded by Pampers, consists of 2 month observerships and a 9 month research scholarship at the prestigious Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Centre- one of the top pediatric hospitals and child health research institutions in the United States which has produced some of the most renowned pediatric research scientists, including Dr. Albert Sabin, discoverer of the oral polio vaccine.

Winners Of The ‘Etisalat Prize for Innovation’ Celebrated

Chief Commercial Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Wael Ammar; Winner of Etisalat Prize for Innovation 2012 (Most Innovative Idea), Mr. Oyehmi Begho; with his business partner, Miss Nkemdilim Uwaje and Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Steven Evans, at the 2013 Etisalat Prize for Innovative Press Conference, held at Four Point By Sheraton, Victoria Island, Lagos, today, Thursday, 7th February, 2013.

Winners of the 1^st edition of the ‘Etisalat prize for Innovation’were celebrated at a media event held at the FourPoints by Sheraton Hotel in Lagos yesterday. The winners who were announced at the Africa Com Gala dinner held in Cape Town last year will be supported by Etisalat in further developing the two winning entries for product/idea of the competition, Mobile Maths Practice and i-Connect.

Etisalat Launches Pre-Order Campaign for Blackberry 10 with Surprise Packages

(L-R): CEO PTV Phones, Banji Adesanmi, Regional Director, East, Central and West Africa, Blackberry, Waldi Wepener, Head, Data Messaging, Applications & Devices, Etisalat Nigeria, Okung Ebiefie, Head of Retail, West Africa, Blackberry, Bridget Chukwumah, Director, Products & Services, Etisalat Nigeria, Lucas Dada and CEO, 1Number Nigeria, Adegbe Ogbeh, at the recent launch of Blackberry 10 in South Africa.

Nigeria’s most innovative and fastest growing telecommunication company, Etisalat, today announced the launch of its pre-order campaign for the latest Blackberry Smartphones. The BlackBerry® 10 range of smartphones recently launched at an event in South Africa are re-designed, re-engineered, and re-invented BlackBerry platforms that create a new and unique mobile computing experience.

ORAL B Commends the Federal Ministry of Health on National Oral Care Policy

 In fulfillment of its mission of promoting Oral health in Nigeria, Oral B has partnered with the Federal Ministry of Health on the launch of the first ever National Oral Health care policy in Nigeria. The formal event which took place at the Transcorp Hilton hotel in Abuja was planned strategically as part of the celebration of the 2nd National Oral Health care week and saw the launch of the policy as well as the inauguration of the Senate President; Dr. David Mark GCON as the National Oral Health Champion.

Adidas Brand Comes to Nigeria

Adidas, the global sports brand, has opened two stores in Nigeria through its Strategic Retail Partner, Mopheth Sport Nigeria Ltd, during the last quarter of 2012. The move demonstrates adidas’ intention to strengthen the brand in the vibrant Western African country. “Although we have always had a strong presence in Nigeria through the sponsorship of the Super Eagles, our product offering has been limited. As part of our growth into Africa, we have identified a well-established retail partner who is responsible for the rollout of adidas monobranded stores in Nigeria,” says Astrud Meintjes, the Senior Business Development Manager at adidas South Africa. The adidas brand entered the Nigerian market, when Mopheth opened the first adidas store in Lagos’ Ikeja City Mall in October 2012.This has been followed up, by the opening of a second store in the nation’s capital, Abuja, in December 2012.

Etisalat Nigeria, Eskimi provide extra value via Opera Mini

Social networking platform Eskimi and Etisalat Nigeria are providing users with quicker access to the social network through the speed-dial option on Etisalat's branded Opera Mini browser.  Etisalat's 3.75G data service will give added value on Eskimi through virtual currency and VIP packages. Eskimi has launched a promotional campaign targeting consumers and subscribers.

Etisalat Hosts Career Summit for Corps Members

In fulfillment of its commitment to youth development and empowerment, Nigeria’s fastest growing and most innovative telecommunication company, Etisalat, recently hosted the 2012 Batch C members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Lagos and Abuja at the second edition of the 2012 Mind-the-Gap Career Summit sponsored by Etisalat. The session was designed by e-Green Services for national manpower development.

Pictures from Etisalat Merit Awards

Special Adviser to Ogun State Governor on Education, Mr. Tunji Abimbola; Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Education, Otunba Fatai Olukoga; Director, Products & Services, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Lucas Dada; Commissioner for Education, Ogun State, Barrister John Olusegun Odubela and Head, Regional Sales-Lagos & South-West, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Olujimi Tella, at the Etisalat Lagos Merit Awards, held at Renaissance Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, on Wednesday, December 5th.

Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Education, Otunba Fatai Olukoga; Commissioner for Education, Ogun State, Barrister John Olusegun Odubela and Director, Products & Services, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Lucas Dada, at the Etisalat Merit Awards, held at Renaissance Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, on Wednesday, December 5th.

Pictures from the launch of Nokia Lumia 920 & 820

Country Manager, Microsoft Anglophone West Africa, Mr. Emmanuel Onyeje; Vice President, Nokia West Africa,
 Mr. James Rutherfoord and General Manger, Consumer Marketing, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Kola Oyeyemi, at the launch of Nokia Lumia 920 &820,
held at Silverbird Galleria, Victoria Island, Lagos, today, Tuesday, 20th November, 2012

 Country Manager, Microsoft Anglophone West Africa, Mr. Emmanuel Onyeje; Vice President, Nokia West Africa, Mr. James Rutherfoord and General Manger, Consumer Marketing, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Kola Oyeyemi, at the launch of Nokia Lumia 920 &820, held at Silverbird Galleria, Victoria Island, Lagos, today, Tuesday, 20th November, 2012

Jazz Masters, Fourplay take the Etisalat Stage At Lagos Jazz Series

Nigeria’s most innovative and fastest growing telecommunications company, Etisalat in partnership with Lagos Jazz Series last weekend treated jazz lovers to a night of eclectic performances by renowned contemporary jazz quartet from the United States, ‘Fourplay’, as well as popular Nigerian artistes at the waterfront of the Federal Palace Hotel in Victoria Island.

The event held on the second day of the Lagos Jazz Series at “The Etisalat Stage” and had performances by acclaimed masters of jazz, ‘Fourplay’ featuring the two time Grammy Award winning artist Bob James, Nathan East, Chuck Loeb and Harvey Mason. Opening act for the night was Nigerian Idol Season 2 first runner-up, Stephen Onochie who set the mood by performing Jazz classics by Louis Armstrong and Nat King.

Etisalat Highlights The Importance Of Effective Deployment Of Infrastructure For 4G Networks in Africa

Etisalat Nigeria’s Head, Turnkey Rollout of the Engineering and deployment department, Mr. Valentine Amadi has highlighted the need for telecommunication operators to effectively deploy 4G infrastructure for a new market in Africa. This call was made recently at the Africa Com conference and exhibition organized by Informa Telecoms and Media in Cape Town, South Africa.

Speaking during the Mobile Broadband and LTE sessions chaired by Jean-Pierre Bienaime, SVP Strategy & Communications Wholesale, Orange and Chairman, UMTS forum, he emphasized the importance of a review of existing infrastructure, regulatory, environmental and Government issues and the need for government to take over construction of service ducts on roads in Africa for telecoms installations.

Picture from Energy Institute Award 2012.

Otunba Olugbenga Odusanya, Director -Synergyn Oil U.K. LTD; with Collin Jackson CBE - World/European Hurdles Champion & BBC Sports Broadcaster, who was the Special Guest of Honour at 'Energy Institute Award 2012' in London, yesterday, November 27th,  2012.