MTN moves to consolidate its brand and marketing outlook…appoints Omnicom Group

The MTN Group has finally confirmed the appointment of the Omnicom Group as its integrated global agency. Six global agency networks — Dentsu Aegis Network, Havas, Interpublic Group, Omnicom, Publicis and incumbent WPP  (through MetropolitanRepublic and Aqua) — were invited to tender for the account in March 2016. Three (Omnicom, Publicis and WPP) continued into a second round late last year.

The statement issued yesterday said three agencies proceeded to the second round late last year, with Omnicom selected based on having met the functional and commercial requirements. These requirements were scope of work and specialisation, industry and geographic track record, proposed resources (footprint, team and transformation agenda), and specified risk and financial parameters.

The appointment of Omnicom Group spans the areas of brand, media, digital, public relations, internal communication and sponsorships, across MTN’s functional areas of Marketing, Consumer, Enterprise Business, Digital Services, Corporate Affairs, Human Resources and Investor Relations at a Group level, as well as the company’s operations in 22 markets.

In Nigeria especially, this move will ensure the retention of DDB and TBWA (being local affiliate of Omnicom Group in Nigeria) of the patronage of the MTN brand.

Omnicom is an inter-connected global network of leading marketing communications companies, whose portfolio provides quality talent, creativity, technology and innovation to some of the world’s most iconic and successful brands. Offering a diverse, comprehensive range of marketing solutions spanning brand advertising, customer relationship management (CRM), media planning and buying services, public relations and numerous specialty communications services, the group aims to drive bottom-line results for their clients.

MTN group was launched in 1994, and within few years, it became an emerging market operator, connecting subscribers in 22 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Lenovo goes with ARM for N23 Yoga Chromebook for Android apps

Some Chromebooks released this year will be able to run Android apps from the Google Play Store. Lenovo has tuned its new N23 Yoga Chromebook 2-in-1 to effectively run Android mobile apps. PC makers are taking a page from smartphones and tablets and adding touchscreens to Chromebooks. Many new models can be interchangeably used as laptops or tablets.

More Chromebooks are also getting ARM processors -- which dominate in smartphones and tablets -- to effectively run Android apps. Most Chromebooks today have Intel x86 chips, which dominate in PCs, but Android apps best run on ARM processors.

Lenovo, for the first time, is using an ARM chip in the N23 Yoga Chromebook 2-in-1, breaking its long-time reliance on x86 chips. The device has an 11.6-inch touchscreen, and it can be used as a tablet or laptop thanks to a hybrid design. The N23 Yoga is "optimized to run the Google Play Store apps," Lenovo said in a blog entry.

The device will start shipping in April, with the price starting at US$279. It will first ship in the U.S. and then worldwide.

In addition to Lenovo, Samsung and Acer have also plugged ARM chips into 2-in-1 Chromebooks designed to support Android apps. Samsung at CES announced new Chromebook Plus, which uses an ARM-based homegrown six-core Exynos chip, and Acer last year announced its Chromebook R13, which uses another ARM chip, the MediaTek's MT8173c chip.

Chromebooks can deliver a better mobile experience with Android application compatibility, so using ARM processors makes sense, said Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

Chromebooks with Intel chips will be able to run Android apps, but they come from a PC background. ARM chips have a mobile heritage, and that is why Lenovo may have put the MediaTek chip in the N23 Yoga, McGregor said.

The N23 Yoga has serious horsepower with the MediaTek chip, which is based on ARM's latest Cortex-A72 core. The MT8173c chip was originally designed for smartphones and tablets, and it has an integrated PowerVR graphics core, which can handle 3D gaming and high-definition video. The device offers 10 hours of battery life, weighs 1.35 kilograms and has up to 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The screen displays images at a 1366 x 768-pixel resolution. It also has HDMI, USB Type-C, and USB 3.0 ports.

But Lenovo hasn't entirely ignored Intel. It separately announced an N23 Chromebook with Intel's "next-generation" Celeron chip, which may be the processor code-named Apollo Lake. It's a standard laptop with an 11.6-inch 720p screen. It also has two USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port, and a 2-in-1 card reader. It will be available next month starting at $199.

The PC maker also announced the rugged ThinkPad Chromebook 11e family of rugged laptops with Intel's latest quad-core Celeron chip. The Chromebook Yoga 11e has a 2-in-1 hybrid design, while the ThinkPad Chromebook 11e has a standard laptop design. The devices have up to 32GB of storage and up to 8GB of RAM. The devices have USB-C ports, one USB 3.0 slot, and offer 10 hours of battery life.

The ThinkPad 11e Chromebook will start at $369, while the ThinkPad 11e Yoga Chromebook will start at $449, and both will ship in May.

Credits: PCworld

More popularity for Chinese smartphones in South Africa

Thriving Chinese smartphone manufacturers have developed aggressive strategies to expand into the rest of the world, and after Nigeria, South Africa is high on their priority list. Browsing through catalogues of cellphone network operators and retailers shows a growing number of previously unheard-of brands that are beginning to compete with Apple and Samsung in the high-end market, even among SA's brand-conscious consumers. The more familiar brands are Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, Xiaomi, Hisense and TCL Mobile, which is behind the revival of Alcatel. TCL also has its own branded handsets.  The latest entrant – a new brand for SA – is Meizu, which introduced its smartphones to SA last year.

Chinese-made devices have highly attractive features and most offer value for money. Their main target is medium- to low-end buyers and entry-level handsets are priced around R2 000. Low prices have accelerated smartphone adoption in South Africa. Cellphone network operators have recorded a double-digit increase in smartphone usage, resulting in growth in data revenue. According to the International Data Corp (IDC), low-priced smartphones (costing less than USD100) account for more than two-thirds of SA's Android phone sales.

“This space has evolved after top-end sales became well-established in the market courtesy of the country's substantial post-paid segment, a rare feature of the operator environment in Africa,” said IDC in a report released in September 2016. World Wide Worx managing director Arthur Goldstuck says the main factor driving the uptake of Chinese handset brands is value for money, rather than low cost in itself. The high-end features available on mid-range phones make them viable alternatives to the big brands, for which the cost is often two to three times that of the economy brands.

MTN SA's general managing director for pricing, research and intelligence, Jay Chetty, says the popularity of these devices is growing – largely because of their costs – as they enable more South Africans to get into the smartphone environment. “The Huawei brand is gaining credibility,”? says Chetty. “It is starting to tap into the high and medium value segment.” Between 11% and 15% of smartphones running on MTN's network are from Chinese brands. Goldstuck believes South Africans are very brand conscious, mainly when they are paying a premium, but when they simply want an affordable option the brand becomes less important than what you get for your money. He says Huawei is the big challenger to Samsung's market dominance. It displays many of the same characteristics, strategies and attitudes Samsung did when it was still an up-and-coming smartphone player. Alcatel has the potential to dominate the low end, where it has been successful, but has not yet broken into the high end.

However, not all Chinese brands are succeeding here. Goldstuck says Xiaomi has made a huge impact in some markets, but its online marketing model has required substantial adaptation for the African market. He says it may not be able to achieve the same scale as Huawei. “ZTE seems to have little interest in deepening its role in the local handset market. Other Chinese players like Meizu and Oppo remain unproven in this market.” The IDC says the share of Chinese brands in the smartphone market has exceeded 20% of total units by the end of 2016. Besides the product mix, currency challenges and macroeconomics factors in South Africa are favouring economically priced phones from China. These brands are no longer seen as cheap and low quality? but rather as better and preferable to the overpriced ones, concludes Goldstuck.

Credits: CCTV

Qualcomm enmeshed in U.S. Antitrust Case Over Licensing

U.S. antitrust officials are poised to sue Qualcomm Inc. for allegedly using unfair practices in the way it licenses its technology, people familiar with the matter said. According to information from Bloomberg, Qualcomm, the biggest maker of semiconductors for mobile phones, disclosed in 2014 that the Federal Trade Commission was investigating its licensing practices and said an enforcement action could lead to a fine or changes to its business.

The United States Federal Trade Commission said Qualcomm forced Apple to use its modem chips by lowering its licensing fees and pushing competition out, according to a newly-unsealed antitrust suit brought against the chipmaker by the federal agency.

The suit would be yet another regulatory challenge to Qualcomm’s most profitable business, technology licensing. The chipmaker gets most of its profits from selling the rights to use patents that are essential to all modern mobile phone systems. Qualcomm has argued that its licensing follows industry standards that have been in place for more than 20 years and are used by other companies.

In the last month of 2016, South Korea, home to two of its largest customers, fined the company 1.03 trillion won ($890 million) and described its practices as monopolistic. The San Diego-based company said it will appeal that decision. Qualcomm is also the subject of investigations by the European Union and Taiwanese authorities. The company’s shares fell 3 percent to $64.91 at 1:36 p.m. in New York. Representatives of the FTC and Qualcomm declined to comment.

Qualcomm is the biggest developer of the technology that underlies how mobile devices communicate. The company has been heavily criticized for its high royalty rate demands and licensing conditions. It’s resulted in a slew of regulatory investigations worldwide.

The chipmaker has argued that the beneficiaries of regulatory action -- phone-makers -- have struck new deals that acknowledge the validity of Qualcomm’s patents and that users of its technology benefit from its heavy spending on research and development.

The FTC investigation focuses on a process where companies get together to develop industry standards so devices from different manufacturers can interoperate -- so, for instance, data sent from an Apple Inc. phone can be received and understood by one made by Samsung Electronics Co. Since the companies that develop those standards have the advantage of ensuring their patented inventions get included in the new specifications, they pledge to license the patents on “reasonable and non-discriminatory” terms.

The definition of that phrase has been purposefully left undefined. As a result, courts and regulators have been struggling to interpret what’s fair and reasonable, and it has been a key issue during the legal wars among smartphone manufacturers.

The FTC has been scrutinizing the use of foundational patents in licensing disputes, particularly in telecommunications. Weighing in on Google Inc.’s patent case against Microsoft Corp., the agency in 2012 advocated for limits in the ability of the U.S. International Trade Commission to impose import bans when so-called “standard-essential patents” are infringed.

It kept that position regarding an import ban imposed on Apple phones in a case brought by Samsung in 2013. President Barack Obama’s administration overturned the ban, citing concerns that some patent owners could engage in “hold up,” meaning they would demand unreasonably high royalties under threat of withholding use of basic technology needed to make a phone work.

Credit: Bloomberg

Asus announces the small but powerful ROG GR8 II VR-ready gaming PC...as it seeks to double smartphone sales in 2017 and beyond

CES 2017 was full of announcements of new gaming systems, leveraging Intel’s seventh-generation Core processors and Nvidia’s Pascal graphics architecture. Every major company introduced new systems, making the event an exciting one for gamers of all stripes.

That doesn’t mean, however, that every new system as announced at CES. As a case in point, Asus introduced yet another gaming system from its Republic of Gamers (ROG) line, the ROG GR8 II. The GR8 II is, precisely as its name implies, the successor to the GR8, a system that aimed at packing as much computing power as possible into a case that occupies the least amount of space. According to Asus, the GR8 II mostly succeeds, with a significant increase in power accompanied by only a small increase in size. The company touts the four-liter GR8 II as “the smallest VR-ready system money can buy,” and it’s highly portable at only four kilograms.

In terms of aesthetics, the GR8 II incorporates Asus’s Aura Sync technology for customized lighting across both the system itself and attached ROG peripherals. The small, uniquely designed case is kept cool via a complex of heat pipes and fans aimed at enabling maximum performance through maximum efficiency. In addition, the system is designed to be extra quiet, running only 23dB at idle.

The GR8 II offers solidly midrange components, including seventh-generation Core i7 or i5 CPUs, up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM, and the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 GPU. That combination of components comfortably meets or exceeds today’s VR requirements, and Asus fully tested the GR8 II to ensure that it performs well with the Oculus Rift VR system. Dual HDMI ports and a DisplayPort means that even without VR, a surround gaming experience can be achieved with up to three displays

Storage options include a slot for up to an M.2 PCIe solid-state disk (SSD), with another 2.5-inch bay to add additional drives. Audio quality is enhanced with SupremeFX running in conjunction with Sonic Studio III software that can route audio for streaming. A full complement of networking options is provided, from a Gigabit ethernet port to 802.11ac Wi-Fi with MU-MIMO support. Two USB 3.1 ports, Type-C and Type-A, and four USB 3.0 ports are available for plugging in a variety of peripherals.

Asus hasn’t yet provided pricing or availability for the ROG GR8 II. However, once it arrives, you will have yet another VR-ready gaming option to choose from in addition to the scores of new machines announced at CES 2017.

In a related development, following the announcement of the ASUS ZenFone AR and ZenFone Zoom 3, a new report suggests that ASUS is looking to ramp up sales over the course of the next few years. In 2016, the company sold 20 million smartphones, in no small part to the release of the ZenFone 3 lineup which provided users a great experience for those on a budget.

The ASUS ZenFone AR turned heads at CES 2017 by being the first to complete two different objectives – the first smartphone with 8GB of RAM, and the first to be compatible with both Google’s Daydream and Tango features. It’s unlikely that this smartphone will lead sales for the company in 2017, but CES Jerry Shen has stated that the ZenFone 4 lineup will be released in Q2 of this year.

ASUS has also recently released the ZenFone Pegasus 3S in China, where the company has a strong foundation. But that was just the first move in a series of many to build upon the 20% growth in several markets, including 5% growth overall.

2017 is already shaping up to be an interesting year, and we haven’t even seen the flagships released. Many OEM’s are expected to announce these devices at MWC 2017, which will kick off late next month.

Credits: GSMarena, Phandroids

Despite Directive, DSTV Continues To Charge for Free-to-Air channels in Nigeria

As far back as middle of 2016, the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) gave a repeat  directive it earlier issued to MultiChoice Nigeria Limited, owners the Digital Satellite Broadcast Television (DStv) to unlock all free-to-air channels irrespective of whether subscribers have active subscriptions would be applied across board on all satellite/pay television stations operating in the country.

Earlier on, the council had issued far-reaching directives to MultiChoice to among other things, make compensations to its subscribers within 90 days, after the council established allegations of violations of consumer rights against the broadcaster.

According to report from ThisDay newspapers, the council specifically ordered DSTV to unlock all free-to-air channels even at the expiration of subscription. DSTV had often refused to release the free to air channels, which should include local television stations whenever current subscription expired. Even though it was learnt that pay television stations are under obligations to release the free to air channels as part of broadcasting agreement signed, DSTV and some of its competitors including Startimes, have continued in the breach.

As ironic as it is, DSTV and its competitors in Nigeria do not pay for the content from local television stations, rather they get paid a subscription by these stations to carry their signals. So by charging their digital television consumers, DSTV is actually making money from two fronts.

But MultiChoice Nigeria, has described as misleading and inaccurate recent media reports accusing it of unfairness to Nigerian subscribers. For some time now, there have been media reports purporting that MultiChoice affected a 20 per cent slash in DStv subscription in countries which it operates, leaving out Nigeria and South Africa.

In a statement by Caroline Oghuma, Public Relations Manager, DStv, the company said subscription rates across countries are easily verified, and that all the facts were on the internet for all to see. While admitting that DStv bouquet subscriptions were slashed in other countries, as reported, she explained that reduction was way below the 20 per cent claimed by the authors of the reports.

On the exclusion of Nigeria from the list of countries affected by the slash, Ms. Oghuma said Nigerian DStv subscribers have always paid lower rates than subscribers in the affected countries and, despite the recent reduction, still pay lower.

“For two years, prices were not increased in Nigeria until April 2015. Even when they were increased, they remained substantially lower than in other countries. MultiChoice made a decision to absorb costs on behalf of the Nigerian subscriber because the company recognizes that the country is passing through a difficult economic phase,” she explained.

While avoiding the other aspect on their not releasing the local television free-to-air channels, She added that the company remained committed to providing improved services and customer-focused initiatives because it values its subscribers. Rather, she said, the company made available toll-free lines on all the mobile telephone networks in the country to ensure subscribers could reach its call centres at no cost when they have issues with the service.

Responding to enquiries, CPC spokesman, Abiodun Obimuyiwa said the council’s directive would be implemented across board as soon as it gets DSTV to comply.

Nairobi to host Africa Tech summit for innovators

Global technology and business leaders will converge in Nairobi next month for the NextGen Africa 2017. The event will connect technology leaders with local developers and entrepreneurs in an effort to engage and collaborate on developing more locally relevant technology.

Microsoft Regional Chief Executive Kunle Awosika says the NextGen Africa 2017 theme is Building for Africa as African entrepreneurs seek to solve business and market-related challenges.

“We believe in the power of the emerging technologies to connect people to key services and boost productivity, while utilizing unique and differentiated business models. Our goal with this event is to bring various players together and collaborate, so that we can build and equip our innovators with the right technology based tools and infrastructure, helping them create and scale more of these solutions,” Awosika noted.

The two-day lineup set for second and third of February will include a series of talks, sessions and forums on topics including cloud, big data, machine learning, the internet of things, digital transformation and technology in emerging markets.

Technology is seen a major player in 2017 growth with prospects of an increase in its contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Awosika says disruptive technology will dominate in 2017 especially in the retail sector. 

Avast Lists Jehovah Witness, Facebook, Snapchat, others among Top Apps Draining Your Phone

Antivirus firm Avast claims to have highlighted a number of popular dating, music streaming, personal interest and social network apps that take the battery juice out of your Android devices. According to a recent research report from the popular security provider, smartphone owners looking to speed-up their devices should ditch certain popular social network, dating, fitness and music applications to boost performance.

Recently, Avast Software released a new report unveiling the most battery- and storage-draining apps for Android. From news to new friends, the functionality of the apps in question span a wide range, but they’re all connected by a penchant for sucking the life out of your battery.

The global Avast Android Performance & Trend Report reveals the top overall performance-draining apps. Facebook-owned properties took three of the top spots, including the Facebook app itself. Second place went to musical.ly, a relatively new app that lets you record a 15 second clip of you and your friends lip-syncing to a popular song. It’s proven wildly successful, with more than 100 million users watching and uploading clips, but in Avast’s tests, it managed to drain Samsung Galaxy S6 from 100 percent to empty in just 2 hours.

According to their research, the official Jehovah’s Witnesses app, Skype-competitor WhatsCall, bookworms’ favourite Wattpad and TayuTau Pedometer, join perennial performance-hoggers like Tinder, Snapchat, Facebook and Spotify.

Avast also has some advice for the New Year:

It said: "Feeling that post-Christmas slump? Time to reach for the running gear to work off all that turkey and your favourite fitness apps. These apps are all the rage, but they’re also heavy battery drainers and a case in point is TayuTau Pedometer.

"A great app for tracking how many steps you’ve taken, how many calories you’ve burned and how far you have walked, it also ranks at number seven in the top drainers as it runs automatically in the background on Android phones without you needing to start it up. "Taking it on a 7 mile run lasting 50 minutes drained the battery of our test phone by 31 per cent! Make sure you have charged up before you head out of the house."

Bookworms are likely to be frustrated that Wattpad was ranked in third place in Avast's list of the most resource heavy apps overall. This is likely caused by its notifications and followers features, which constantly check for new books and act more like Facebook than a true reading app. If you want to limit the drain on your phone, best go to the Settings section and turn off all notifications.

However, it is the official app produced by Jehovah’s Witnesses that tops the charts this quarter for being one of the heaviest users of smartphone storage, as it allows users to download their bible in multiple languages, as well as letting them browse a huge library of high-resolution video tutorials.

If you are keen to get hold of this content, Avast Antivirus recommends deleting the videos once you’ve watched them to free up your storage. Avast collated the report based on anonymous data from over three million smartphone users, which revealed the apps that are sucking power, data and storage from your smartphone without you even realizing.

UK watchdog calls on Diebold Nixdorf to address competition concerns amidst positive market outlook

Anti-trust watchdog in the United kingdom the CMA, has suggested a number of remedies to counteract a reduction in competition for the supply of cashpoints in the UK in the wake of the $1.8 billion merger between Diebold and Wincor Nixdorf. The Competition and Markets Authority has provisionally found that Diebold’s acquisition of Wincor may reduce competition in the UK ATM market, leaving only NCR as a credible competitor.

Announcing the findings, Martin Cave, inquiry chair, says: "That NCR is the only other substantial UK supplier of ATMs was a significant factor that underpinned the CMA’s investigation. It is important to protect against the risk of weakened competition in the supply of cashpoints which could lead to reduced quality and increased prices."

To remedy the issue, the CMA is recommending that Diebold Nixdorf either sells certain assets, or agrees to supply services to potential new market entrants.

Responding to the ruling, Diebold Nixdorf says: "Diebold Nixdorf is pleased that the CMA has not called into question the global transaction and integration of the businesses outside the United Kingdom, and that any remedies required to preserve competition in the United Kingdom will involve the least costly and intrusive remedies needed. Diebold Nixdorf is also pleased that the CMA is committed to continue working with the company and that the CMA will consider both behavioral and structural remedies to address and resolve their review as expediently as possible. The process is expected to be completed during the first half of 2017."

Evidence provided to the inquiry suggests that, outside of NCR, there is a weak competitive constraint on the merged companies. The group also found that any expansion of suppliers on the periphery of the market would be unlikely to occur within a time frame or on a sufficient scale to prevent the loss of competitive constraint arising from the merger. As a result, the merger may be expected to result in higher prices and/or a loss of quality.

The CMA is today also issuing a notice of possible remedies which outlines measures the CMA could take if it still believes the merger may be expected to lead to an SLC when it makes its final decision. Martin Cave, Inquiry Chair, said: “We looked carefully at the market forces influencing the supply of ATMs in the UK. That NCR is the only other substantial UK supplier of ATMs was a significant factor that underpinned the CMA’s investigation. It is important to protect against the risk of weakened competition in the supply of cashpoints which could lead to reduced quality and increased prices”.

The group is now inviting responses to its provisional findings and remedies notice, and will continue to assess all the evidence before it makes its final decision.

This is coming on the heels of a new ATM market outlook report from MarketReportsOnline, that clearly shows where the ATM market is pointing to. According to the report, trends suggest that the market growth potential lies majorly in Asia-Pacific region with China and India being the most potential targets for the industry due to growing banking population and demand for cash. Moreover, despite the considerate decline in ATM installed base in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, the worldwide ATM market is expected to escalate.

The factor such as growing GDP, rising replacement demand of ATMs in developed countries, integration of check-imaging technology, cash recycle and continuously growing demand in developing countries are the primary growth drivers of global ATM market. However, the threat of security breaches, dynamic technological advancements and operational threats for ISOs hinder the market growth.

The report "Global ATM Market: Industry Analysis & Outlook (2016-2020)" analyzes the development of this market, with focus on the Asia-Pacific, Americas and EMEA markets. The major trends, growth drivers as well as issues being faced by the market are discussed in detail in this report. The four major players: NCR Corporation, Diebold Inc., Wincor Nixdorf and Hitachi Ltd. are being profiled along with their key financials and strategies for growth. The report contains a comprehensive analysis of the global ATM market along with the study of the regional markets.

HP Debuts Hybrids range with 15-inch Spectre x360 at CES 2017 to rival Macbook

According to CNet.com, there's been no shortage of praise for HP's line of Spectre x360 hybrid laptops. Both an early-2016 model and a late-2016 update received high marks in our reviews, thanks to a slim aluminum body, excellent keyboard and a good selection of ports (even if the late-2016 version retained only one full-size USB port).

The lead update for CES 2017 is a new 15-inch version of the Spectre x360, and it looks and feels different from its predecessor, but not always in the way you'd expect. This new x360 has a slimmer screen bezel, which is a trendy new feature to add right now, down to just 4.65mm on the left and right sides of the 15.6-inch display. The overall footprint is also smaller, while the glass trackpad has gotten wider, although not nearly as big as the massive trackpad in the 15-inch MacBook Pro.

But there's a trade-off involved. This new version is actually a little thicker and heavier than the one it replaces, moving up to 4.4 pounds and 17.9mm thick. That's because there's an Nvidia GeForce 940MX discrete graphics option, as well as a battery that HP says is 23 percent larger than before.

The new 15-inch Spectre x360 will be available around the end of February, starting at $1,249 in the US (£1,017 or AU$1,737). The smaller 13-inch Spectre x360 is also getting a 4K screen option, plus optional Intel Iris graphics (slightly better than the default Intel graphics in most laptops), and the same cool-looking ash silver color as the 15-inch model.

HP is doing a good job of focusing on growth and emerging areas while still supporting legacy markets for the volume it provides. By investing a lot into innovation and taking risks and it’s really starting to show with their latest products like the HP Spectre, HP ENVY Curved AIO, Folio G1, the Elite X3 smartphone, HP has amped up their premium notebook game over the course of the past few years more than any company tracked. Those new products are paying off financially or, if nothing else, from an ‘innovator’ brand metric giving HP some technology leadership points with customers and channels. Many of these improvements have been driven by HP’s own ‘insights engine’ where the company listens and reacts to consumer input. HP wants these improvements to translate into net promoter score which HP watches like a hawk.  This brings us to CES where HP updated a bevy of products as well as releasing some brand new ones.

HP is leading CES off with a series of new products that build on the creative products that HP has been working on over the past few years and boosting their premium profile. The HP EliteBook x360 is one of those products, made for the  enterprise bringing durability, manageability and security along with it. HP says that their north stars are design, security, and collaboration to address a future workforce and workplace where millennials and their co-workers are more mobile and working together is both easier and more challenging in some ways more than ever before. I believe the better the tools that IT provides and the more consumer-looking and acting they are, the less likely their employees will bring their own devices and create more security challenges.

HP says the EliteBook x360 is the thinnest business convertible in the world at 14.9mm, which should come as a relief for a lot of business users looking for a convertible.

"More investments needed to improve telecoms services" Spectranet CEO...as company Launch Full Speed Unlimited Gold Plan

David Venn the Chief Executive Officer of Spectranet Nigeria, a provider of 4G/LTE technology and broadband service provider in the country, has weighed in on the seeming stagnancy currently being recorded in the telecommunications sector of the country. Speaking recently to Guardian newspapers, Mr. Venn explained that with almost 100 million Internet users in Nigeria, only about 95 percent are using even 3G with very few operators operating 4G.

In his words, “Spectranet initial investment was in 2009 with the licensing, and the 4G-LTE wasn’t available then, so the company launched with an earlier technology. As soon as LTE was available, we got it swapped with 4G-LTE Technology. So 4G-LTE has only been around here with Spectranet for about three to four years. So that is what we have here, we don’t have the old technology”. And that is when the growth really started, because 4G drive much faster and better experience for the customer. And it is more affordable too; the technology is more efficient in the way it uses the spectrum to get more data.”

Because the investments within that period was quite low, he could not talk about numbers but hinted that it is in hundreds of millions of dollars that have been invested. “All these equipment, and the modems as well, mostly the network equipment all come from overseas, because there is only a certain number of suppliers around the world that make these equipment. They are extremely sophisticated equipment; none of them is made in Nigeria, it’s all imported. All of that is in dollars and there’s been a huge investment in all that. We have spent a bit more in the past couple of years in rolling out, in marketing and in trying to get our name out there, but most of the investment is going to equipment and network infrastructure”.

While explaining the major reasons for the low internet penetration in the country, the Spectranet boss opined: “Let me start from 3G. It was designed as a voice network with good data. You make most of your money out of voice calls. They don’t make much money out of data. It is not because data is not used very much, but because per megabit of voice phone call, they make about 100 times more revenue from voice calls than they will make for data. This is because data is quite cheap based on network capacity.

This is one of the reasons why the mobile operators don’t really want data everywhere. Because if there’s data everywhere, most people will start using WhatsApp and Skype, they will stop using the voice networks, they will stop paying for voice calls. I see in Nigeria that in the next couple of years, maybe two or three years, no one is going to pay for calls, they’ll just be buying data bundles, that is what is happening in Europe now. In United Kingdom (UK), I have five SIM cards on one network, and they are all one account with 10 Gigabyte plan. I pay a certain amount for that and they are all shared. All the phone calls and SMS are free, unlimited”.

He added that, the current data revolution is changing a lot of things. A lot of people now watch video, entertainment via Internet streaming, much more than they used to. “Two years ago, if someone sent you a Facebook message with a video with it, you delete it straightaway, because you don’t want it to consume your data bundle. But now it starts playing automatically, and people watch it. People now watch more videos, and YouTube. You get a lot more content. And that’s a major change in the past two years in Nigeria” he concluded.

Describing the huge investment needed to offer telecom services in Nigeria, he added that, “People are quite often surprised by how many towers it takes to service a city. In Lagos alone, we have 400 towers. We have over 600 towers across the four cities. Lagos is more spread out. And you provide towers not just for coverage, but for capacity. So most of the investments we spent in the past year have really been to enhance the capacity of the network, because the coverage was already there. But as the tower starts to get busy, we need to put more towers to take up the capacity, so that you can support the customers. Because you can just get so many customers on the tower before it starts getting congested. We install new base stations all the time”.

On his feelings towards the pricing of data services, Mr. Venn said: “The actual cost of data at the moment is too low. The problem is that the GSM operators have been competing on price for data, and they are taking the data way down below the cost of provision. And they are complaining that WhatsApp shouldn’t be allowed because it is eating into their voice revenue. That is because they are charging too low for data. And the problem is that when the data charge is too low, no one is going to invest in rolling out more networks for data”.

In a clear demonstration of Spectranet 4G’s seriousness in the Nigerian market, the company has also introduced a new promotional offer tagged full speed unlimited gold plan into its range of data plans for subscribers to enjoy. The CEO, David Venn, disclosed that the introduction of the unlimited plan is aimed at meeting the ever growing demand by subscribers for more data to consume as they continue to experience the great service of Spectranet. “We decided to provide what the subscribers want as a listening and caring brand” he said.

The unlimited data plan, according to him, is at a price of Eighteen Thousand Naira (N18,000) for a one month subscription that’ll provide users with unlimited upload and download without worries or fear of poor connection. The Unlimited Gold plan is designed for heavy data users that live an active lifestyle and who want to stay connected for a whole month to accomplish all their business and personal tasks.

“As you are aware, we take our rollover policy very seriously.  All our existing customers who migrate to this plan will have their unused data warehoused in their account and this will be credited back to them should they choose to return to their existing capped plan” he said.

Aside the full speed unlimited Gold plan, we are also introducing a Unified Value Plan of 40GB for N12,500 only.   As part of our effort to ensure that more people have access to the affordable quality internet service of Spectranet.