‘Ikpoki's appointment, triumph for MTN's talent development programme’

Ikpoki

Leading ICT company in Nigeria, MTN, has said that the appointment of Michael Ikpoki as the first Nigerian CEO of the company demonstrates the strength of MTN's talent development programme.

An experienced lawyer, seasoned business executive and golf enthusiast, Ikpoki was until his recent appointment, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Ghana. He replaces Brett Goschen, who takes on the role of MTN Group Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director on the Group Board.

Akinwale Goodluck, Corporate Services Executive, MTN Nigeria, stated that “Michael Ikpoki’s appointment lends credence to the company’s principle of building local talent and underscores the strength of our leadership development strategy and leadership succession pool.”

According to him, “This is indeed a strong reflection of the MTN talent management creed; Management’s commitment to it and the quality and abundance of talent in MTN Nigeria, having regard to the status of MTN Nigeria as the biggest operating company within the MTN Group.”

Goodluck revealed that the new CEO started his career in telecoms with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). After six years with the NCC, he joined MTN Nigeria as a Regulatory Advisor in 2001, rising steadily through the ranks and receiving the quality of training, capacity building and exposure that are inherent in the company’s employee value proposition.

 

Michael Ikpoki became General Manager, Regulatory Affairs in 2004. Two years later, in 2006, he was appointed General Manager, Sales and Distribution and in 2007, the Sales and Distribution Executive for MTN Nigeria.  His appointment as the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana in April 2011 made him the First Nigerian in the MTN Group to attain this height.

 

He is however, not the only one.  Indeed, only a few months after Ikpoki was appointed CEO of MTN Ghana, another Nigerian, Karl Toriola, was also appointed CEO of MTN Cameroun.   

 

Several other Nigerians have since gone on to hold strategic positions across various MTN operations.

MTN subscribers to watch TV on their Blackberry, iPhone, others

 

Customers of Nigeria’s Leading Information and Communications Technology (ICT) company, MTN, will soon be able to watch live TV on their data-enabled handsets, as the company rolls out its new Mobile TV service.

 

MTN Mobile TV service offers live streaming of TV content and ‘made for mobile’ video to data-enabled handsets such as Blackberry, iPhone and Samsung Galaxy range of phones, as well as tablets, such as iPad and Galaxy Tab, among others.

 

Although a type of mobile TV service was pioneered by MTN in 2007, it was on the Digital Video Broadcasting for Handheld (DVB-H) platform, which requires customers to purchase special handsets to enjoy the service.

 

However, for the first time in Nigeria, any data-enabled phone or device can watch television programmes and related content from up to twenty TV channels on his phone via MTN Mobile TV service.

 

“All our customers need to do to enjoy this service is to activate the WAP browser on their mobile handsets and devices; they can either access MTN Mobile TV packages via the MTN Play Portal, or by typing in the address of the Mobile TV portal www.mtnonline.com/imoovtv and they are good to go,” said Mr. Larry Annetts, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, MTN Nigeria.

 

He said that customers can also send a short message service (SMS) with the keyword “Mobile TV” to a short code and they will be sent the link to the Mobile TV portal.

 

Mr. Annetts explained that there would be three bouquets to choose from, depending on a customer’s budget and it would be possible to subscribe to one or more Mobile TV bouquets. Speaking further, he explained that each bouquet comprises a selection of TV channels providing a variety of content ranging from news to sport and entertainment, among others.

 

A distinct advantage of the service is that customers will be able to select the channels of their choice from a bouquet of channels provided, he added.

 

Mr. Annetts stated that MTN Mobile TV service is already active on the MTN network and will be available commercially to customers shortly.

 

MTN Nigeria’s Corporate Services Executive, Mr. Akinwale Goodluck, in his comments said “MTN Mobile TV is another addition to a long list of innovative products and services we have developed for the benefit of our customers.” He said the introduction of the service bears testimony to the commitment of the company to lead innovation and customer satisfaction in the industry.

 

He said the company would continue to invest massively in the network to deepen its capacity to delight customers with more innovative products and services

Developing story...Plane presentation.. PH Student wins!

A picture sent in by a reader: 'Airhostesses' at the official
presentation of the much talked about MTN aeroplane.

The winner of the MTN Ultimate Wonder aeroplane is  Ebube Essien-Garricks, 27year old student of College of Health Science and Technology.

And trust women, she asked for money in lieu of a plane. So she’s getting N64million.

Congrats girl!

Blackberry 10 for launch on January 30

Research In Motion, makers of Blackberry Smartphone, announced on Monday it will release its much talked about BlackBerry 10 on January 30, 2012. It is the first time it would be specific on a date.

Hopes of a turnaround are hinged on a successful launch of these products to enable the once top smartphone maker return to reckoning in the Americas. There are indications it has been sealing deals with global carriers and opening outlets in emerging markets.

The Blackberry may still be a darling of  corporate  executives whose needs of security and true smartness makes it their choice smartphone and it is reported to have done very well in Africa particularly South Africa and Nigeria where it has been doing good volumes

NCC bans promos, lotteries by Telcos

A news report just slipped in that the telecom industry regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has banned all forms of sales promotions by telecom operators. The action is reportedly aimed at salvaging the sliding quality of service in the sector.

CommunicationsWeek quotes Tony Ojobo, Director of Public Affairs as saying that the ban covers all proposed and approved promotions and lotteries on which the NCC has given approval further to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) entered into with the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC).

Affected in this latest ban from further promotional sales campaigns are Globacom, MTN, Intercellular, Visafone, Etisalat, Airtel and Multilinks.

The question now is: What happens to the various levies that the operators have paid to relevant government agencies to enable them carry out the various promotions? Will they get refunds from all the government agencies that had collected money from the operators before giving them approval to run such promo/lotteries?

MTN donates N500,000 for shot baby’s treatment

Taiwo Lawal

Mobile telecommunications company, MTN, has paid for the N500,000 needed for the treatment of the one-year-old baby Taiwo Lawal, who was shot by armed robbers in the Gbagada area of Lagos on Sunday.

 

The company’s Public Relations Manager, Mr. Funsho Aina, made this known in a statement on Thursday in Lagos.

 

According to Punch, Aina disclosed that the company had paid the money into the account of the baby’s family member.

 

Ceremonial presentation of the money was made to the family today at MTN’s head office, Golden Plaza, Falomo, Ikoyi.

 

Taiwo was among those hit by the robbers’ bullets when they opened fire on some policemen in Gbagada area during one of the simultaneous robberies that took place in different parts of the state on Sunday.

 

Peculiar problems dog telecoms development in Nigeria

Telecom operators in Nigeria battle challenges that are not listed in any business book anywhere in the world, reports JOHN AWE
(Cover story for Infosystems published in the Nigerian Tribune edition of Thursday May 11 2006)
As a branded pick up truck pulled up in front of the enclosure housing the cell site of one of Nigeria’s Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) operators at Idumagbo in the heart of Lagos Island, a couple of scuffled young men (known locally as area boys) leapt out of a shade and made for it.


They circled the truck a couple of times and confirmed their suspicion that the vehicle had brought three technicians who were to carry out maintenance work on the GSM operator's mast there. That meant business for them. They hurried to call more of their colleagues loafing in the area.


Soon the entrance to the cell site was swarming with unwashed, mean-looking young men with scary baritones. Their declaration was unequivocal. 'Owo ile' (grounds rent) must be paid to the boys before any of the technicians could be allowed to do the work they were there for..


The technicians, led by a Nigerian who had just been invited back to Nigeria from Europe where he had had a successful career run, could not understand what was going on. So he wasted time trying to find out which tier of government the boys were working for.


"Are you guys from the local government" the hapless man asked the boys who looked like they were getting impatient with the maintenance team.


"A bode lele yi. Talo wa lati local government. Ani ke sanwo le fa won boys on soro local government. Da wa lohun ka to bere sini si yin o!". Translated, it means, "Is this one a moron? Who is from a local government? Give us what we ask before we begin to rough handle you!" The statements were delivered with a menace that left the hapless technicians no doubt as to what trouble they were in. The remaining two technicians suspected to be expatriates hurriedly climbed back into the truck while the team leader and the driver tried to see if they could solve the problem. It was a misplaced hope.


He made some frantic calls to some people believed to be at the company’s headquarters. He consequently got educated about the antics of area boys who usually hinder any maintenance work at the site.


With more understanding of the kind of trouble he was dealing with, the team leader tried to coax the boys. He failed. At some point, the team leader also broke into what little pidgin he knew and threatened to call the police if the boys did not disappear. That was a mistake as the boys swooped on him. Before anyone knew what was happening they had dispossess him of his mobile phones and most of the tools they had meant to use for the maintenance work.


The team managed to get back to their head office where the matter was reported to the police and a few arrests were made.


But that is not the end of the harassments that staff of telecom companies encounter when they go round their installations to carry out routine maintenance or any type of work whatsoever in Nigeria.


It is even not the only unusual challenge telecom providers face in their bid to meet their obligations to subscribers and stakeholders in Nigeria. .


“Nigeria is full of unique challenges you will probably not find anywhere else in the world. As a business, not necessarily as a telecom service provider, you must fashion out ways to deal with these unique problems” said Fidel Otuya, Director of Corporate Communications, Intercellular, one of the pioneer private telecommunications operators in Nigeria.


Topmost on Fidel’s list of daily challenges that will probably not be found anywhere else in the world is the menace of area boys.


“Look, even this morning I had an encounter with some of the boys. As you can see outside, the road is being rehabilitated and motorists have to find ways of avoiding the blocked area. But then some jobless boys will pounce on you as soon as you either attempt to find a space to pass or park. They will demand for money. If you don’t give them you risk having your windscreen or side view mirror damaged” he said.


Fidel said some of these little problems that the government ignored had a way of adding to the overheads of a business.


“Take this scenario, you invite foreign technicians to come make installations for you, or conduct training and you have to go hire mobile policemen to escort them from the airport. You have to feed them for the number of days and accommodate them. It happened during the General (Sani) Abacha regime. You had to because you were apprehensive of the safety of the foreign guys,” he said.


The marketing Manager of Starcomms, Mr Omar Lababidi in an interview with Infosystems said each country had its peculiar challenges.


“Sure, Nigeria has its own share of peculiar challenges. It is left for operators to do enough feasibility study before launching commercial operation” he said.


He admitted that some of the challenges might escape due diligence, but emphasised that if the exercise was thorough, the surprises would not be enough to shock the operator out of business.


“Challenges like irregular power, for instance, we all knew that before launching service. It should not surprise anyone. But probably, many might not have expected it would get as bad as it has become today. But basically, it was a challenge that was anticipated and prepared for. I can say that, at least, of our operation” he said.


Other problems encountered in the Nigerian business environment include sporadic spells of fuel shortage, religious or ethnic clashes, inconsistent government policies, unreliable legal system, wilful vandalisation of equipment and plants and multiple taxation.


“This must be the only country where any agency can wake up and start levying all businesses in its vicinity, regardless of how many other levies or taxes they are paying,” said Adetayo Ayomikun, a staff of an Ikeja based PTO.


“The federal government will take its own tax. The state will take its own. The local government will take its own. Then one agency will come again to the same business to ask for its own levy. When you call their bluff, they just call up a few boys and come seal off your company, not minding how many people earn their living from there”.


Adetayo explained that the telecom operators recently had to come together to challenge some of the levies and charges being imposed on their masts by various agencies of government.


“The question is not about operators not willing to pay for the masts. But at the last count, six different bodies and agencies have imposed one form of levy or the other on the masts and towers apparently in their bid to raise money. But if it is allowed to go on, they will run telecom operators out of business” he said.