Airtel, FirstBank Nigeria partner for FirstMonie Payment Solution

Airtel Nigeria has gone into a partnership with First Bank Nigeria Plc to offer consumers a new mobile payment solution called Firstmonie Talkmore. The strategic partnership, which was sealed with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) last week in Lagos, makes it possible for Firstmonie Talkmore to run essentially on Airtel platform to make mobile payment services easy and accessible to a broader spectrum of Nigerians.

The partnership is the first major collaboration between leading operators in the nation’s banking and telecoms industries to provide a first class mobile payment solution to Nigeria.

Specifically, subscribers on Airtel network who sign up to Firstmonie will be able to send and receive money, buy airtime, pay bills and carry out other forms of transaction on their mobile phones without operating a bank account. In addition, any duly registered subscriber on the Airtel network who signs on to Firstmonie will automatically receive N100 e-value and will be eligible for N240 bonus airtime.

Speaking on the special offering, the Director Regulatory Affairs and Special Projects, Mr. Osondu Nwokoro observed that Firstmonie could not have been better timed in view of the current drive by the Central Bank of Nigeria to entrench a cashless economy in the country.

“As pioneers in the GSM sector and leaders of innovation in the industry, we have no doubt that Firstmonie will definitely revolutionize the mobile payment industry and further endear the Airtel brand to the Nigerian people,” said Nwokoro.

According to Nwokoro, Airtel has been a leading driver of innovative mobile payment solutions across Africa having singularly planted Mobile Money platforms in 16 countries across the continent.

“It is this experience and expertise that we are bringing to bear on Firstmonie in the hope that it will deepen customer loyalty for Airtel and stimulate customer acquisition for FirstBank. We also have no doubt that our prospective subscribers now have one more reason to join Airtel while those who are dissatisfied with the service they receive from their current network providers have just been given the perfect reason to port to Airtel, the network that works,” he continued.

Also speaking on the offering, Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, FirstBank, Mrs. Folake Ani-Mumuney observed that the product which facilitates the integration of both the un-banked and under-banked population into the financial system also offers an excellent medium for Airtel subscribers to send funds securely to their families and friends across the country.

“Firstmonie offer is open to subscribers of the Airtel network across the nation and registration is initiated by dialing *894# on any basic mobile phone or by logging on to https://www.firstmonie.com/iweb or https://www.firstmonie.com/imobile,” she said.

Ericsson set to acquire leading media services company Red Bee Media

Ericsson, the world-leading provider of communications technology and services, has announced its intention to acquire Red Bee Media, a world-leading media services company headquartered in the UK, from an entity controlled by Macquarie Advanced Investment Partners, L.P.

The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, supports Ericsson's strategy to grow in the broadcast services market and takes advantage of its technology and services leadership to help broadcasters and content owners address the convergence of video and mobility. It will bring 1,500 highly-skilled employees, as well as media services and operations facilities in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Australia. This will further strengthen Ericsson's broadcast services business, which was started in 2007 and expanded in 2012 with the acquisition of Technicolor's Broadcast Services Division.

With 1,240 of Red Bee Media employees being based in the UK, Ericsson's UK business would grow to around 4,000 employees and with more than one-third working in the media services business, the UK will become a global media hub for Ericsson.

Since its foundation in 2005, Red Bee Media has established itself as a strong and diverse business with a growing number of customers around the world. It provides a range of media services; from media asset management to playout and digital video publishing, metadata services, multilingual access services and creative services to major broadcasters and broadband platforms. Red Bee Media, which is known for its high quality playout services, is also the largest editorial metadata provider in Europe, delivers more than 100,000 hours of subtitling per year for leading broadcasters.

The Television and Media industry is undergoing an unprecedented transformation driven by consumers' appetite for rich, interactive, anytime, anywhere entertainment. The confluence of communications, broadband and media technologies and the use of IP and mobile networks to generate and deliver such experiences is creating new opportunities in the ecosystem.

New services are expanding and re-defining the way consumers experience entertainment, placing new economic and creativity demands on businesses - whether they be broadcasters, telcos or other media companies - worldwide. According to the Ericsson Mobility Report June 2013 release, video is the single biggest contributor to traffic in mobile networks and this is expected to grow 60 percent annually until the end of 2018.

"Ericsson is making a step change to our business, cementing our commitment to TV and broadcast services and continuing a journey we started in 2007," says Magnus Mandersson, Executive Vice President and Head of Business Unit Global Services, Ericsson. "We can create value for broadcasters by making digital content more accessible, enabling monetization of TV content more efficiently. Video traffic shows very strong uptake in the mobile networks and Ericsson can address the need of both broadcasters and telecom operators through our technology expertise and services capabilities."

Ericsson's core capabilities in hardware, software, systems integration and management/operations services have been deployed worldwide in the communications and broadband businesses to create success for many players. Ericsson provides innovative technology solutions for content acquisition, exchange, distribution, delivery and the provisioning of multi-screen entertainment experiences based on a 20-year, Emmy award winning heritage in media research and development.

Ericsson's broadcast services expertise makes use of its industry leading position in managed services and serves leading regional and global broadcasters to bring enhanced efficiency into their business operations - being it live or thematic content.

Serving one billion subscribers worldwide, Ericsson is the leading provider of managed services for telecom operator networks. It has invested in processes, methods and tools in this segment for more than 15 years. In recent years, Ericsson has expanded this successful business model to other industries, such as utilities, transportation and the TV industry.

The closing of the acquisition is subject to approval from relevant regulatory authorities and other contractual conditions. After completion, Red Bee Media will be incorporated into Ericsson's Business Unit Global Services.

Red Bee Media is one of the world's leading media services companies. Working with broadcasters, content owners, platform operators and brands, the company blends technology and creative expertise to provide a range of services; from playout, multi-platform media management and distribution through to access services, metadata, content discovery, companion applications, content marketing and brand consultancy.

IDC names SAP Mobile Market Leader for 12th Consecutive Year for mobile enterprise management enterprise software market

SAP AG has announced that leading IT market research advisory firm IDC is again recognizing SAP as the market share leader based on 2012 revenue in mobile enterprise management (MEM) enterprise software market. SAP has been recognized as a leader for the 12th consecutive year in the "Worldwide Mobile Enterprise Management Software 2012 – 2016 Forecast and Analysis and 2012 Vendor Shares" report with the SAP® Mobile Secure portfolio. Based on continued mobile customer adoption, SAP holds the largest market share with a 14 percent share of the market.

"We believe the MEM market is evolving toward a platform approach that integrates best in class mobile security and management capabilities," said Stacy Crook, program manager, mobile enterprise research, IDC. "Leading vendors are offering partners and customers extensive capabilities to build management and security into mobile apps."

With the constant introduction of new devices into the workplace, the variety of mobile operating systems and the influx of employees bringing in their own devices and apps, enterprise-level security is top-of-mind for companies large and small. The SAP Mobile Secure portfolio addresses the changing needs of this market, which helps ensure customers obtain the best-in-class capabilities they need coupled with comprehensive security of the device, apps and content for today's most popular mobile devices, including iOS, Windows and Android devices.

"The first wave of the mobile enterprise was around securing devices, now it's all about securing apps and content, and eventually machine-to-machine and the 'Internet of Things,'" said Sanjay Poonen, president and head of Mobile, SAP. "Our new offering, SAP Mobile Secure, is leading the way in the enterprise mobility market.

We help companies manage their mobile deployments – devices, apps and content. We now have industry-leading solutions for each market segment of enterprise mobility — mobile security, mobile analytics, mobile app platform, mobile apps and messaging infrastructure — offering the broadest portfolio to address the needs of customers and partners."  Some of the aspects of this solution includes -

Device security and app management: The highly scalable SAP® Afaria® mobile device management solution manages and secures deployments of mobile devices and apps for any size company, in the cloud or on premise.

App security and management: SAP helps secure and manages applications through its entire lifecycle. SAP® Afaria® and SAP® Mobile App Protection solution by Mocana helps organizations accelerate mobile initiatives by automating app security. App-wrapping technology enables enterprises to quickly secure existing corporate and third-party applications without having to write any code.

Content security: The SAP® Mobile Documents solution is designed for enterprise deployments where collaboration, security and control of business content are critical. Users can access, view and collaborate on personal and corporate content in an easy-to-use, native mobile app that also serves as a graphical user interface (GUI) front end to enterprise content management (ECM) systems already in use in the enterprise.