Telecom
Fast and Furious Mobility Hands End-Users More Power
Enterprise mobility, cloud computing, bring your own device (BYOD), the consumerisation of IT, collaboration, social media… the list of ICT trends is large.
But while the vast array of devices and capabilities at the fingertips of end-users has redefined the way we live, work and connect, the current megatrend in IT departments is that they’re overwhelmed, overburdened and struggling to enable and support users in this era of pervasive mobility.
However, with proper capacity, coverage and performance optimisation, organisations can begin to ride the mobility wave rather than get dragged under it.
Who’s in charge of procurement?
According to Nadeem Ahmad, Dimension Data’s Global Technology Director for Network Integration, when it comes to new devices on their networks, many organisations are playing catch up.
“IT teams can’t stop the proliferation of consumer devices accessing their networks, even if they wanted to. The days when the IT department dictated what you work on and where you work are over. The end-user has more power than ever before.
In fact, BYOD is one of the most influential trends to hit IT, and has literally redefined the way devices are used in the workplace,” added Ahmad. Employees want to integrate their personal and professional lives using their mobile devices and leverage the productivity gains that anywhere, anytime, any device connectivity provides.
Organisations are being forced to adapt quickly to the consumer device phenomenon or lose their relevance in what is now a world ‘on the go’.
Recent statistics indicate that on average, employees have 2.5 devices each. What’s more, they expect to use the advanced functionality and applications these devices offer – whether watching videos or Voice over WLAN – anywhere, anytime.
In addition, Cisco predicts that by 2016, mobile connected tablets will generate almost as much traffic as the entire global mobile network does today.
Tablets are just the latest bandwidth hogs, and – according to industry analyst firm, Gartner – “just the tip of the mobility iceberg”.
“When you consider that the media tablet market didn’t even exist two years ago, the only thing you can plan for when it comes to mobile innovation is more, more, and more,” said Ahmad who points out that a well-designed, pervasive WLAN infrastructure used to be a ‘nice to have’ but it’s now rapidly become a ‘must have’ necessity.
“The good news is that there’s much that organisations can do to help with the coverage and capacity of their wireless network and meet user requirements around service, performance and seamless mobility,” he said.
Let’s talk infrastructure
In particular, *802.11n enables optimal coverage, reliability and performance across the corporate network infrastructure for data, voice, video and other services vital to supporting mission critical mobile applications and services so if you’re still nursing along a legacy 802.11 a, b or g infrastructure, it’s time to upgrade.
And in many instances, connectivity plans need to include mesh topology to support communication in emergency situations, outdoors or in harsh environments.
When designing a high-density WLAN, it’s also important to consider the performance implications of all the tablets, smartphones and other Wi-Fi devices in a small area and that the integration of these multiple devices occurs with ease.
Today’s newer mobile devices all use 802.11n, but IT needs to make sure that other users with older devices and older technology – still common in the workplace – don’t suffer.
In reality, many IT departments have been looking at this from the wrong end.
“They’ve been so busy making sure the executives or the sales guys have the latest tablets they want and trying to cater to end users bringing in their own devices that they haven’t given enough thought to the fact their WLAN wasn’t designed for all these devices,” explains Ahmed. “But if you don’t optimise your technology and infrastructure, your network will simply not be able to withstand this uncontrolled explosion of new devices.”
Heavy traffic forecasted – expect delays Gary Middleton, Dimension Data’s Business Development Manager for Network Integration believes we only need to look at the traffic forecast to understand the magnitude of the problem.
According to a recent Cisco report, between 2011 and 2016, there will be an 18 fold increase in mobile data traffic. This translates to a compound annual growth rate of 78% over five years.
“That’s huge”, explains Middleton. “It’s almost doubling the amount of traffic per year that will be handled on global networks. Of course, not all of that will be on the enterprise network: much of it will be on the service provider networks.
However, – any way you slice it – it’s massive growth and organisations need to prepare the networks for this,” he said.
According to Middleton, it is one thing getting these devices connected to the network: the challenge is managing how all this new traffic affects network performance.
“A smart phone now generates 35x more traffic, and a tablet 121x more than a regular cell phone. This amount of traffic – and the rich content, graphic data and ingenious applications that make these devices so attractive – are extremely tough on the network, and if not addressed, will affect performance,” he warns.
Intelligent networking
He says this is where intelligent networking becomes so important. “Organisations need to apply the concept of context. What is being connected; who is connecting; where they are connecting; from and what are they doing? This form of meaningful context is important when handling the network traffic and applying network resources in an appropriate way.”
With the ability to set policy on the prioritisation of traffic, organisations can make sure that, when the network is flooded with traffic, the business critical applications will get the bandwidth they need first.
A ‘free for all’ BYOD policy could come at the cost of mission critical applications. If an employee is at a client and cannot access the information he needs to close a deal because a training seminar is being transmitted to 50 users, then mobility could be getting in the way, and as a result, will stop enabling business.
Middleton said there are many technologies that can be applied to the network to improve performance and manage traffic better.
“For example, it’s possible to load-balanced users across applications using the context information we have – and even make sure that an iPad receives a more mobile version of an application, so as not to cause bottlenecks on the network.”
Planning for progress
Historically, organisations planned and budgeted around a seven year depreciation of their network.
However, with (just) mobile traffic growing at such exponential rates, that seven year depreciation period will not apply anymore.
The pace of technology innovation means that the usable life of the capital asset is much shorter. Clients that are holding out for calendar driven refresh over business-agility driven refresh are at risk of falling behind their more ‘mobility conscious’ competitors and losing their appeal to tech-savvy talent.
What we know for sure is the ever-increasing number and type of employee-owned devices in the workplace will be more bandwidth and information hungry than ever before.
And secondly, without proper consideration and future-proof planning, the IT headache is going to get bigger, particularly when network performance really begins to suffer.
“Failing to plan is certainly planning to fail when it comes to enterprise mobility,” said Ahmad.
“Today, IT departments take a reactive approach, which is understandable given the speed at which all this is happening. However, it’s critical they become more proactive and put a plan in place. When it comes to the various disciplines of enterprise mobility, we are helping more and more clients map the current stage of where they are today, where they want to be in the future and put together a clear development path to ensure they achieve these objectives,” concludes Ahmad.
*802.11n wireless networks let you create a seamless working environment by combining the mobility of wireless with the performance of wired networks.
News
NITDA Communications Director Hadiza Umar Named in 2026 PR Power List, Graces Glazia Magazine Cover
Mrs. Hadiza Umar, Director of the Corporate Communications and Media Relations Department at the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has been officially recognised as one of Nigeria’s top public relations professionals in the prestigious 2026 PR Power List.
The definitive annual list, compiled by GLG Communications in partnership with The Guardian, was unveiled to commemorate World PR Day.
It celebrates 50 outstanding professionals within Nigeria and the diaspora whose strategic communication strategies have significantly shaped organisations, influenced public discourse, and advanced the profession over the past 12 months.
Adding to the momentous milestone, Mrs. Umar was hit with a major surprise at the exclusive PR Power List Soirée and Awards ceremony held at the Alliance Française in Ikoyi, Lagos, where she was unveiled as a front-cover personality for the Glazia Magazine PR Power List Special Issue.
The double recognition highlights her exceptional distinction and impact in public sector communications and narrative management.
Speaking on the dual achievement, Mrs. Umar expressed profound gratitude for the honours, describing the magazine cover appearance as a breathtaking surprise.
“I am deeply humbled and honored to be recognized on the 2026 PR Power List and to feature on the cover of Glazia Magazine alongside other exceptional industry titans,” Umar said.
“This milestone is a testament to the enabling environment and visionary leadership of the Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, which has allowed us to strategically drive the narrative of Nigeria’s digital economy and technological innovation.”
Mrs. Umar, a highly respected corporate communications strategist, holds professional fellowships in the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (Chartered), the African Public Relations Association (APRA), and the Institute of Corporate Administration (CICA).
Under her supervisory role, NITDA’s media relations have consistently projected national information technology frameworks, start-up support frameworks, and digital literacy initiatives, to position Nigeria competitively on the global stage.
The 2026 PR Power List selection process involved a rigorous, independent evaluation led by a distinguished international jury.
The organisers noted that the class of 2026 represents professionals raising the standard of strategic communications and introducing new ideas to the industry.
The need for Nigeria to think outside the box in its need to drive towards global relevance with innovations and scientific developments will be on the front burner at the NITRA Innovative & Scientific Conference scheduled to hold on Thursday July 23, 2026 in Ikeja, Lagos.
NITRA
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will lead other delegates to discuss and take far-reaching decisions at the event, which has its theme as “Bridging Nigeria’s Digital Divide With Scientific Innovation”.
Other companies that have indicated interest in partnering with NITRA include mobile communications company, Tecno; Africa’s premier end-to-end AI solutions company, Hyperspace; and telecommunications data infrastructure company, Digital Realty.
Speaking on the proposed event, the Chairman, Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA), Chike Onwuegbuchi noted that the event will seek to create a platform for government and private organisations to deliberate on policies around scientific innovations in Nigeria, challenges, place of indigenous and foreign collaboration, roles of each stakeholder, and grassroots development in that regard, among others.
According to him: “The Federal government, with series of programmes and partnerships, has established the urgent need to create an ecosystem that thrives on scientific innovation, breeding institutions and individuals with a target of placing the country at the fore-front of Next-Gen development.
It is a known fact that digital and scientific innovations are crucial, not only to the survivability of a nation, but also to the sustainability of its growth and development, with significant effect on economic strength, global image, defense and security, government capabilities to function, and public health and safety, communication and digital footprint, among others.
The federal government is actively driving scientific innovation to foster economic diversification and build a $1 trillion economy by 2030. Efforts are heavily focused on commercializing research, establishing massive research funds, and funding strategic infrastructure, particularly in technology, biotechnology, and healthcare. Core government initiatives and policies include the newly instituted National Research and Innovation Development Fund (NRIDF), which aims to mobilize about $500 million annually to support research and the commercialization of scientific outputs; and the Nigeria Genomic City, a multi-ministerial initiative aimed at transforming Nigeria into a leading hub for genomics, precision medicine, and biotechnology. It is designed to protect indigenous data, stimulate artificial intelligence in health, and develop a highly skilled scientific workforce.
According to the General Secretary of NITRA, Mr. Chidiebere Nwankwo, the forum will also be a vehicle to propagating the views of decision makers to the public, thereby furthering the cause of public awareness and information dissemination on the topic.
The focus, he said will be on how Nigeria can sustain digital innovative growth and scientific development in Nigeria
The board of global payments company, PayPal, says a 53 billion dollars takeover offer from financial technology firm, Stripe, and private equity company, Advent International, does not adequately reflect the company’s long-term value.
PayPal
According to reports, the proposed acquisition, valued at 60.50 dollars per share, remains under consideration, with the board yet to formally respond to the offer.
The directors are said to be evaluating not only the financial value of the proposal but also the structure of the financing, the timeline for completing the transaction and the likelihood of obtaining regulatory approvals.
They are also considering the possibility of competing bids emerging.
Although the offer represents a premium of about 28 per cent above PayPal’s recent share price, the board believes the company could deliver greater value to shareholders if its ongoing turnaround strategy succeeds.
Following reports of the bid, PayPal shares gained about two per cent to close at 56.73 dollars.
Sources familiar with the discussions said Stripe and Advent have secured approximately 50 billion dollars in debt financing from JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, while both firms would jointly contribute 17 billion dollars in equity.
Under the proposal, the two companies would jointly own PayPal instead of dividing its operations.
PayPal, Stripe, Advent International, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have all declined to comment on the proposed transaction.
The discussions come as PayPal seeks to strengthen its business after years of increasing competition from rivals including Apple Pay, Google Pay and emerging financial technology firms.
The company, which was valued at about 360 billion dollars in 2021, now has a market capitalisation of approximately 36 billion dollars.
Since assuming office as Chief Executive Officer in March 2026, Enrique Lores has embarked on a restructuring programme aimed at improving operational efficiency and restoring growth.
The restructuring includes the creation of three business divisions comprising Checkout, Venmo and Consumer Financial Services, and Payments and Crypto.
The company is also targeting 1.5 billion dollars in cost savings through the deployment of artificial intelligence technologies.
PayPal’s latest financial results indicated signs of recovery, with first-quarter revenue rising seven per cent year-on-year to 8.35 billion dollars, while total payment volume increased by eight per cent to 464 billion dollars.
If approved, the transaction would combine two of the world’s largest digital payments companies.
The combined business would process an estimated 3.7 trillion dollars in annual payment volume, significantly strengthening its position in the global online payments market.
However, analysts expect the proposed acquisition to face intense regulatory scrutiny because of the companies’ combined market share in merchant payment services.
To address possible antitrust concerns, the bidders have reportedly considered options, including separating PayPal’s Braintree business or other assets if required by regulators.
Sources said Stripe and Advent remain interested in pursuing the acquisition despite the board’s reservations, although negotiations are expected to continue.
Market observers are also awaiting PayPal’s earnings report scheduled for July 28 for further indications of the company’s financial recovery and future growth prospects.
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