Telecom
Glo, Kanu Nwankwo Join Forces on Heart Care
Globacom Limited and Kanu Heart Foundation (KHF) have kicked off a partnership on the generation of funds for treatment of people suffering from heart diseases through the deployment of SMS on the platform of Nigerians’ preferred network.
The two organizations said at a press conference that the partnership hopes to raise funds for heart surgeries. In raising the funds, the telecoms firm has developed a special coded number "33640" for SMS by those who wish to support the effort. Any Glomobile subscriber can send SMS (save, any character even a blank message) to 33640 and an immediate response from Glo follows. A sum of N50 will be deducted instantly from the subscriber’s air-time.
In his remarks at the heart-touching ceremony, Mr. Mohammed Jameel, chief operating officer (COO) of Globacom, said the second national carrier was a compassionate and truly Nigerian corporate citizen, stressing that this was responsible for the company’s collaboration with the Foundation in addressing heart-related challenges.
"Let me say that we are proud and delighted to be associated with this life-saving Foundation in its compassionate goal. We commend our patriot and Super Eagles’ captain, Kanu Nwankwo, who is also the chairman of the Foundation, for initiating this laudable project and ask other corporate institutions and philanthropic Nigerians to support him in realizing this vision," Jameel said.
Deacon Abia Onyebuchi, the Foundation’s coordinator and trustee, said at the moment that there were an outstanding 1000 cases waiting for funds to undertake heart surgery. He said there was a critical case of a child who would die in the next four weeks if there was no immediate intervention for treatment.
According to the Foundation, each open heart surgery requires at least N2 million for it to be carried out. "It even costs far more if a transplant is involved and usually it is difficult to even get a free heart. In some congenital or acquired cases, as the Foundation has experienced, some victims’ hearts irreparably damaged," Deacon Onyebuchi stated.
Nwankwo in his remarks expressed confidence in the capacity of Glo to drive this project and thanked Globacom chairman, Dr. Mike Adenuga, Jr. for his immense contributions to sports development particularly and humanity generally. "He is a father to us footballers," he said, adding that he had from outset been a part of the Glo family.
In 2002 when the foundation did its pilot edition in Enugu by flying in surgeons from abroad, 10 of the patients survived and three unfortunately could not make it. Between then and now, the Foundation has sponsored 300 open heart surgeries of sufferers from all parts of the country. The beneficiaries were flown either to India, Israel, UK or USA for treatment.
Meanwhile, the association is shopping for outlets where the cost will be cheaper so that many more patients could be accommodated. The first surgery carried out by the Foundation cost N6 million and the lucky beneficiary was Baby Enitan Ebisola, who is now grown up and was present at the kick-off ceremony of the Glo-KHF joint venture.
The Foundation has also concluded plans to build a cardio-vascular centre that will cost N450 million on completion once funds are sourced. The centre is billed to provide free heart tests for visitors.
Telecom
FG Plans EO to Criminalise Fiber Cable Damage Costing Telcos Billions
Nigeria will criminalize the destruction of broadband fiber cables following repeated complaints by MTN Nigeria Communications Plc and other telecommunications companies that they are losing billions of naira, according to people familiar with the matter.
Federal ministry of works, which supervises federal road constructors, is finalizing the regulation that will be signed as an executive order by President Bola Tinubu, said the people, asking not to be identified as they weren’t authorized to comment.
While there are presently laws against vandalism, the authorities are aiming to regulate construction firms more closely.
The order will enforce stiff penalties on offenders, said the people, declining to provide more details or say when it will be signed.
“Telecom assets are critical backbone that supports the economy across sectors,” said Temitope Ajayi, a senior presidential aide, who noted that the Association of Telecommunications Companies (ATCON) has been demanding the classification for years.
New rules will provide “further assurance that the Nigerian government will protect their investments against vandals and criminal elements.”
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) estimates that the sector will make up more than a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product by the end of 2027, up from 13.5% in the third quarter of last year.
The move will help alleviate pressure on the telecoms sector, which is facing increased operating costs and sales pressures from a sharp depreciation in the currency and a threefold increase in energy prices.
Repairs and revenue losses from damaged cables is estimated to have cost the sector almost 27 billion naira ($23 million) last year alone, documents seen by Bloomberg show.
MTN Nigeria, the biggest wireless operator in Africa’s most-populous nation, and Airtel Africa Plc bore the brunt of the costs, the documents show.
MTN suffered more than 6,000 cuts on its fiber cable last year, the documents show. On Feb. 28, a cut on its network in three different locations by a road construction firm, an oil serving company and someone burning rubbish in a manhole meant customers faced more than five hours of data and voice outages.
The operator relocated 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles) of vulnerable fiber cables between 2022 and 2023, at a cost of more than 11 billion naira – enough to build 870 kilometers of new fiber lines to areas without coverage.
A presidential order on the matter would be welcomed, said Tony Izuagbe Emoekpere, president, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria.
“When it comes to communication infrastructure, they are destroyed at will, so we are eagerly awaiting the president’s order,” he said. “It would be a great boost to the industry, and it will also encourage investment.”
Telecom
Telegram Eyes 1Bn Users amidst Political Pressures
Telegram, the messaging giant founded by Pavel Durov and headquartered in Dubai, anticipates hitting a remarkable milestone of one billion active monthly users within the next year.
Durov’s departure from Russia in 2014, prompted by governmental pressures to stifle opposition communities on his VK social media platform, underscores Telegram’s commitment to neutrality despite geopolitical challenges.
With 900 million active users currently, Telegram stands as a beacon of free speech in the digital realm, particularly influential in former Soviet Union republics and pivotal during conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine standoff.
Durov’s staunch advocacy for freedom of expression and opposition to censorship by tech giants like Apple and Google reinforces Telegram’s status as a neutral platform.
Opting for the UAE as its base, Durov cites its neutrality and openness as conducive to Telegram’s ethos, serving both opposition groups and governments alike while maintaining impartiality.
In Durov’s vision, the pursuit of freedom eclipses material gain, shaping Telegram’s trajectory as a bastion of digital liberation.
Telecom
NITDA, NIMC Announce Collaboration To Strengthen Digital Economy
To further strengthen Nigeria’s digital economy in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) have announced a collaboration on National Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) to enhance and create synergy between digital identity, payment ecosystem, and secure & seemless data exchange capabilities for Nigeria.
During the meeting between the Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, and Director General of NIMC, Engr. Bisoye Coker-Odusote, with some management staff of both organisations, they discussed various initiatives, which include building DPI stacks for a secured and seamless data exchange and forming partnerships to transform the national identity system.
This collaboration also aims to harness the potential of the innovative ecosystem and emphasise the use of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to drive digital transformation in Nigeria.
To ensure a smooth implementation, a 12-man committee was set up. This committee will play a crucial role in kickstarting and harmonising the initiatives. It is expected to deliver a comprehensive implementation report within the next 4 weeks
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