Nigeria with 24 million cards, 5 Mobile Operators and 7 CDMA operators with total subscription of 62 Million under an addressable market of 140 Million people is the largest market for Mobile telephony in Africa.

Despite the successes recorded in the financial sector in recent years and spread of 24 mega Banks with over 9,500 Bank Branches and 11,000
ATM points, Financial Inclusion is still limited and not widely available for Millions that are still left behind. As Potential Mobile
Money providers across the Globe eye the Largest Mobile market in Africa for mobile payments technologies, there is a strong compelling
need to provide credible and evidence based information and Data for Technology providers, Financial Institutions, Regulators, Researchers,
scholars and Investors in the evolving ecosystem.

MobileMoneyAfrica, in coming weeks will conduct Perception surveys in selected states across the Federal Republic of Nigeria with a view to
understand the potential drivers of Mobile Money, transactional services that will drive uptake, potential users demographics across
different social and occupational groups, access, End user costing metrix and other relevant information that are needed for decision
support in the industry.This is the first in the series that will take us to other parts of West Africa in the short term.

The outcomes of the survey will help Financial Institutions and Mobile payment providers to competitively position their products and
services in the evolving ecosystem.



Read Further at :http://mobilemoneyafrica.com/archives/405


To request a Brochure,please email below.


Emmanuel Okoegwale
emmanuel@mobilemoneyafrica.com

The telcos in Nigeria are taking the battle to the next frontier in coming months: Mobile Money. Not to be left out of this race are Banks and Independent providers which had seen the clearly untapped potentials in an economy of only 20 million Bank accounts and 60 million mobile subscribers under an addressable market of 140 million people. No one wants to be left behind in the evolving ecosystems.

As the likes of MTN, Zain and NSDT provider, Tagattitude of France, are getting ready to commence Mobile money Transfer and payment in Africa’s largest Mobile market with over 62 million mobile subscribers, the banks are warming up to any provider that will deliver the best value in terms of returns and value. While Zain’s partnership with citi Bank has been widely reported in the media but it is still unclear which technology that they will be deploying. For now, No news is coming out from the second National operator, Globacom on Mobile Money roll out plans.


MTN will be using the USSD technology and will partner with banks for a National roll out in coming months. USSD, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data which is also a form of sending messages over a GSM network is not very similar in terms of processing the message from source to destination. USSD is comparable to when a subscriber is loading airtime to the phone using the x and # commands.

The major drawback for this technology is that users will require to remember the strings or codes to initiate a transaction, it is session oriented which means it terminates if the network situation is poor or congested ,does not store any transaction History, Transactions must originate from the Subscriber mobile Phone.

From the users point of view, many semi literate folks might find it challenging to remember the strings or it is too long or not easy to recall and will also require some form of Identification to receive remittance from the Banks or agents points.


Both operators, MTN and Zain will be adopting the Operator – Bank model. In this model, the mobile operator will provide the infrastructure while the Banks will be cash in and cash out points. The main advantage for both parties are that existing goodwill and customers can be rapidly converted with lower cost of customer acquisitions and also the Branch networks of the Banks will serve as service points, most likely the service centers of mobile operators will join as agent points as significant transactions are already been undertaken at those points. The Major draw back of this model is that the customer will still require to physically visit the Banks for Remittance collections and it might be a challenge for those in the semi Urban and Rural areas where the spread of Bank Branch Network is limited and no form of Identification.

The Near sound Data Transfer technology provider, Tagattitude of France which had also won the Global Consumer Product Innovations Prize twice at the GSMA will be deploying, the Bank – Independent Agent Model. They do not provision services to end users directly. The Banks will be at the fore front working with Agents like Micro Finance Banks, eateries, Fuel stations, Transport firms and even corner shops across the length and Breath of Nigeria.

The Main advantage of their offering is that is 100 percent independent of the Networks, easy to use as users will only require to make a simple call and immediately compatible with all Mobile phones and Networks, GSM, CDMA and even Landlines. The Language menu can be domesticated for major Local Languages in Nigeria or even Africa.

The major draw back for the service is that people with impaired hearings may not be able to use the service.

Unlike USSD, Near sound data transfer is a combo of services and transactions can be initiated from diverse sources. It can be deployed for local and international Remittance, person to person payment, Salaries and wages, ATM, POS,Local and International credit cards and online.

On the international Remittance angle, established operators might lose out if they don’t quickly implement a mobile strategy or they can either team with the likes of Tag whose technology is adoptable to suit their offerings and available across all Networks and mobiles.

For the Operator promoted model, it immediately corners millions of existing subscribers already on their platform but the major draw back is that transaction can only be initiated by On network subscribers. It could turn out in different ways as it may push up subscriber base and on the other hand, serve as a funnel syndrome to limit service availability non network subscribers.

The evolving ecosystems will be keenly contested and any model that offers better value will carry the day but for sure some upsets are in the offing from the likes of Tagattitude.


Emmanuel Okoegwale
Nettelafrica Telecommunications and policy scholar

absolutelysalsa.mobi
wap.9jaonline
smirnoff.mobi

See new mobile/devices at the West Africa First Mobiles Only Trade fair, www.mobilefestafrica.com

Buy also at Bargain prices!!!!

I want to place adverts on the nairaland wap site.I need further info.

Thks

Hello,

I want to place some adverts on the Naira land forum and the wap platform.

I await directives on how to go about it.

Emmanuel
08030818868

Mr Mustay,the moderator.

I have been trying to get hold of you.I need to talk about some issues with you.

My email is emmanuel@gomobileng.com

I hope to hear from you soon!!!

Thks

At last,Nigerian Brands are finding their footing in the Mobile media shy landscape. Over the years, ad spending are primarily focused on the traditional media because the agencies are not smart enough to offer new media alternatives like the Mobiles and internet.
Worldwide, Mobile marketing is fast developing as a powerful channel to communicate with the audience. It not only targets the consumer directly, but also achieves a high level of interaction, as people never leave home without their mobile phones and rarely switch them off. The use of mobile marketing is also considered an effective communication tool for advertisers since it creates a personalized, one to one relationship between a brand and a consumer.
Despite the success story of Mobiles in Nigeria, the country accounts for 53 million subscribers with an addressable market of 140 million cutting across CDMA and GSM (3G) networks,Mobile marketing is just catching up with little flips here and there. The opportunities are immense in a country where over 60 million carrier grade SMS are sent daily and also accounts for 61 percent of international wap traffic to the BBC international wap news sites. The consuming public are ready but the Brands are not just connecting yet.
Some Brands are showing promises in the Nigerian Landscape with very weak efforts but it is still commendable.
January 2008
Guinness Barcode Promotion.
Guinness consumers text the unique barcode number printed on the back of the bottles.


January 2008
Guinness Fan Park Promotion.
Nigerian football fans can send messages to the players as well as interact with the brand at various fan parks setup around the country for the African Cup of Nations promotion.

June 2008
Coca Cola Nigeria
Consumers are required to text winning numbers under the crown corks of Coca Cola bottle to a dedicated short code and Airtime winnings are sent to the phones.The Promo later ran foul of the Consumer protection council of Nigeria guidelines because of some inherent faults in the campaign mode and huge out cry by consumers about inability to redeem winnings in time and in a transparent manner.

August 2008
Samsung Nigeria
Samsung Phone buyers text personal details in addition to phone type purchased and IMEI Codes to a short code and stand a chance to be selected to win instant gifts or watch the Olympics live in China. Very successful campaign.

Lagos, Nigeria, 2007
Nigerian Breweries PLC
Star Quest, an annual talent hunt reality TV show that was launched in 2002 by Nigerian breweries Plc with the objective of discovering and promoting young budding Nigerian artistes in various musical idioms. The show seeks to celebrate Nigerian music and also aims to reinforce the friendship, bonding and sociability that is associated with the STAR lager beer brand.The winner of the 2007 Star Quest would be selected by the voting public via SMS.

16 February, 2006
NOKIA PROMO.
The objective of this promo is to give out free Nigerian artistes’ ringtones and a Vibedownloads catalogue, for mobile content and promote Nokia Nigeria sales.
To partake in this promotion, customers only need to purchase any the Nokia 1100, 1110, 1600 or 2600 phone models, from any dealer in the eTel network. Inside each of those phone packs are scratch cards, with which the customer gets three free ringtones from the Vibedownloads website.
Nokia and Vibe also both seek to develop and enhance the Nigerian mobile entertainment industry. “Vibedownloads” supports the many artists whose music, pictures, jokes are used for their mobile contents.

19 December, 2005
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.
The initiative which is called “Africa 11” is a game which has been running since the beginning of the 2005 season’s UEFA Champions League competition, in September. The game will have 11 winners, selected from a number of African Countries including Nigeria, and have them sponsored to watch the final match of the UEFA Champion’s League, at the Stade de France in Paris, in May 2006. To qualify, subscribers need to answer an advertised question, by sending a text message beginning with the letters “CFI#”, to 35050. Different questions will be run every 2 months, and the winners will be picked from a draw.

2005
Osmi Sports.
SMS competition titled “Jersey Number 12” which ran from August – September. The competition was won by Makinwa Agbede from Abule-Egba in Lagos. And his prize was a full VIP, all expense paid trip to Abuja, to watch the Nigeria- Zimbabwe World Cup qualifying match. Other prizes such as mobile phones were also won. The other initiative was an SMS – TV solution deployed during the Tunisia 2004 African Cup of Nations, which allowed subscribers to send messages and watch them being scrolled live during the matches.

16 December, 2005
NIGERIAN BREWERIES STAR MEGA JAM.
The Star Mega Jam is an initiative of Nigerian Breweries Plc, producers of Gulder, Star, Legend extra stout, Maltina and Amstel Malta. It is an annual music concert .And it features international artistes, based on popular demand by Nigerians, to perform in concert, alongside indigenous artists.
Subscribers stand the chance of winning up to 100 prizes which include; meeting the stars at the airport, winning VIP tickets to the concert and having dinner with the Artists. The promo involves subscribers answering the question; “Who was the international artiste for 2004 STAR MEGA JAM? Their options are (A) 10 Cent, (B) 50 Cent, (C) Michael Jackson, and they are to send their answers, as text messages, to the shortcode 33050, at the cost of 50 Naira.




August 2006
Channel O Music Video Awards.
Viewers send SMS for nominations and voting.


June 2006
MNET - The 411.
'The 411', an sms2air show that allows the audience to interact with beautiful TJs, hot DJs as well as featured celebrity guests.

June 2006
MNET - Oboma Show.
SMS for shout outs and dedications. Oboma is a TV show on Channel O that deals with African urban culture.


March 2006
Big Brother Nigeria.
SMS voting and audience commentary. Services also include programming and vote auditing.


December 2005
African Movie Academy Awards.
SMS nominations and voting.



November 2005
United Bank of Africa (UBA) Plc.
SMS notifying potential recruits of upcoming tests.


October 2005
Nigerian Breweries - Amstel Malta Box Office.
SMS voting and audience commentary for the first ever Amstel Malta Box Office.


April 2005
Mothercare Nigeria
SMS notifications to customers.



October 2004
Coca Cola
Enable Nigerian supporters to send goodwill messages to Nigerian Eagles via SMS.



September 2004
Pepsi - All Stars Promotion.
SMS used create awareness to selected members of the public for upcoming bottle top promotion.



May 2004
Indomie Noodles
SMS alerts used to reverse public opinion about the rumours surrounding Indomie noodles. Also used to notify the public of about the re-opening of the factory by NAFDAC.



July 2003
Lagos Business School
SMS website as a means of communicating with Alumni and staff members

Emmanuel Okoegwale
emmanuel@gomobileng.com

Mobile Banking refers to provision of banking and financial services with the help of mobile telecommunication devices. The scope of offered services may include facilities to conduct bank and stock market transactions, to administer accounts and to access customized information. Also known as M-Banking in Nigeria or in some instances SMS Banking etc. It is a term used for performing balance checks, account transactions, payments and others transaction services via a mobile devices. Some mobile Banking applications in Nigeria use pre programmed configurations settings.
Mobile Banking in Nigeria started from the transaction based activities whereby Bank customers are Notified via sms when transactions are conducted on their account or via Atm. This is a one way event and only for informational purposes only. GT Bank was on of the earliest Banks to provision this service to customers.
That was the early days on Mobile Banking in Nigeria. Nigerian Banks are now deploying full fledge banking via the Mobile Phones with array of services which were only possible in the Banking Halls before. Zenith Bank, UBA , GTBank, Diamond and Intercontinental Banks are the fore runners of this innovation.
Despite the watch and see attitude that some very leading Banks are taking about Mobile Banking in Nigeria, The mobile remains the Only and most available feasible means to provide mass market alternative to Branch Banking in Nigeria. The internet has only a penetration rate of 6 percent in a population of 140 million but mobile technology is close to 50 percent penetration with prospects for growth.
Mobile devices are the most promising way to reach the masses and to create a tie-in among current customers, due to their ability to provide services anytime, anywhere, high rate of penetration and potential to grow. Deployment of 3G in coming months will also enable Banks to offer more robust Mobile Banking technologies.
Key challenges in developing a sophisticated mobile banking application are Interoperability. The single reason for is the manner in which mobile phone applications evolved over time, device manufacturers focused on particular standard and and this led to a proliferation of applications .The Financial Regulator CBN should look in this issue at this early stage so that Mobile Banking ecosystem can be robust with National standard that cuts across all Banks. Bank specific Mobile Banking platforms is akin to having each bank deploying its own ATM Technology which other bank customers cannot access.
Interoperability can also help to evolve a standard that will enable low end phones which are currently excluded, to do Mobile Banking. Some countries like India and South Africa are already using some standards like R-World and USSD.
Application distribution for Mobile Banking is another area where some Banks are facing Challenges. While some forward looking Banks are overhauling their gateways and reducing their reliance on Mobile Operators settings to enable customer’s phones, Some Banks are actually asking that Customers come with regular Operator settings which in many instances might not be correct configurations settings,
Operator settings are not really meant for critical operations since most of the settings are used for entertainment based activities. Nigerian Banks that are looking at competing at this sector must look beyond operators settings which might not be correct, delayed in arrival,may not come at all and not regularly updated. Some Mobile operators do update like every three months while some do not at all. For wap and Gprs based Mobile Banking applications, mobile network coverage will also be an issue.
As part of their marketing strategies, I will expect that by now, customers do not need to visit local Branches to download Banking applications. Over-the-Air (OTA) Settings should be readily available online and some innovations can even come to play by Banks deploying Bluetooth application machines in Shopping malls and some strategic places where customers can visit and download Mobile Banking applications for free or for a fee, This will increase the addressable market of the Banks offering Mobile Banking exponentially in Nigeria.

Emmanuel Okoegwale
emmanuel@gomobileng.com

Mobile marketing is defined as marketing via a mobile device.This medium though still in its infancy in Nigeria but it is indicating a great, promising and rewarding future.

Rate of adoption is still slow because the Brand owners and agencies do not yet fully understand this medium and they cannot trust it entirely like the traditional marketing with its imperfections. Mobile is targeted with clear ROI statements because of its measurability through the interactions of the consumers mobiles phones and the application platform.

The mega brands are yet to fully exploit this channel but the little efforts they are channeling is significant enough to take a deeper dive. Coca cola Nigeria is currently running a mobile marketing campaign which is giving away 500 Million Nigeria naira worth of mobile phone airtime in the Refresh and recharge promo. This is an sms based mobile marketing which is changing consumers perception and consumption across the length and breath of Nigeria.

The ease of use of the sms creates a new opportunities for marketers and the introduction of the incentive elements make it’s a strong compelling reasons for millions to participate.

Consumer adoption of Mobile marketing in Nigeria, though not yet measurable but figures from independent and non commercial sites like the BBC reported that Nigerians accounts for 61 percent of its international traffic to it wap site. More than 50 million sms are sent daily across all the networks in Nigeria, availability of wap and gprs in most cities and towns and lastly, the critical mass are acquiring high end phones which is a necessary factor for mobile marketing success. High mobile penetrations also strongly favour the mobile over internet and other forms of marketing.

Apart from well planned campaigns like that of coca cola which is national in nature and incentivized, many consumers said sms campaigns had no significant influence in their purchasing habits because they did not receive the message as at when needed and sometimes the received marketing sms has nothing to do with their purchasing habits. A gentleman told me that He has been receiving promotional sms for flight discount even when He has never flew a plane and cannot even afford to. Poor targeting and unreliable database.

In order to make mobile marketing effective, there is need to fully explore the human angle and clearly understand the local environments. Reports has shown that consumers in Nigeria will opt-in for incentive based mobile marketing where freebies like airtime, ringtones, discounts and others are offered. Fast moving consumer goods are more trusted in such regards.

Across all consumers what seems to be important for them to engage a mobile campaign is in this order, Incentive, usefulness, relevance and ease of usage.

Nigerian consumers has usually High risk perception for wap and Bluetooth marketing from unknown sources and Brands. This means a new product from a new company will be making a mistake by launching their product via these mediums but a trusted Brand will be a great hit.

Emmanuel@gomobileng.com
Mobile marketing specialist

At the Lagos Sheraton Hotel.Attendance is FREE.

Come and get the best from Nokia, sony Ericsson, Smasung,Bird, LG, Sagem,Phillips, Blackberry,Alcatel, others but sorry,No China Phones!!!

West Africa's First specialized MOBILES ONLY trade fair (MOBILE Festival) is holding in Lagos - Nigeria,Aug 28th - 30th.This event will empower
Millions of West African subscribers to access Original phones more easily and efficiently in the new evolving value chain that will help
minimize the Grey market penetrations and aid mobile Device acquisition.

Mobile phones remains the most purchased Consumer Electronics product in Nigeria.The Mobile phone acquisition is a major requirement to become a network subscriber across all Networks.

It is endorsed by leading Phone makers.Phones will be sold at a huge discount and attendance is FREE.

Emmanuel Okoegwale
emmanuel@gomobileng.com

Wap is the de facto standard for internet access on mobile terminals like PDA, Cell phones and mobiles. It is license free and scalable across bearers such as GPRS,WCDMA and others. It significantly addresses the characteristics of the present wireless devices such as smaller screens, limited RAM and limited key board. Wap which stands for wireless application protocol, allows people to access basic information on the internet, like news summaries, through their mobile phone handset.

Millions in Nigeria are accessing the internet via the WAP platform alone in a country with an internet penetration of 6% and Mobile penetration of 40%.Wap offers the easiest and most affordable for millions in the fastest growing Mobile market in Africa with over 48Million subscribers with an addressable market of 140 million and low penetration of wired lines and internet services. The mobile phone comes to the rescue for a quick access, anytime and anywhere.

Statistics from BBC News indicated that Wap is the one platform where African countries continue to appear in the top five in their statistics and Nigeria accounts for 61 percent of International wap usage, distantly followed by South Africa with 19 percent, Uganda 7 percent and the rest of the world,13 percent.

Great opportunities await Brands, News agencies and stakeholders to explore these Digital opportunities in Nigeria but the local realities of wap local usage is not encouraging. At the last count, local wap sites in Nigeria are less than 10 and only one is relatively well known.

The main challenge facing wap in Nigeria is the quality and value of the services of the local wap sites. They are so far has been less than great. Wap users are not been offered services that meet their requirements. Most WAP services to date have been broadly based around Web based content models and have been hampered by a belief that people will want to browse - they don't. They want to be entertained and they want to access specific information that is useful where they happen to be at that moment. The usage patterns are fundamentally different to the way that people use PC internet.

The Brands are also not exploiting this avenue for permission based and targeted marketing that is measurable with clear ROI statement.

The Nigerian WAP opportunities opens up the frontiers of m-advertising which is significantly cheaper than all other types of media.All factors necessary for success are already on ground. WAP-enabled phones are already available for the critical mass at affordable prices, Gprs Networks is available in most capital states and commercial cities and towns.
Wap marketing opportunities bridges the gap of communications and entertainment channel between a brand and an end-user through the use of the mobile. It is a new addition to the media mix, with great opportunities for direct interaction with customers and cost-effective data collection.

With almost 50 million mobile phone subscribers in Nigeria, mobile channel should now become an integral part of marketing and communication strategy. Wap offers significant opportunities for direct interaction with customers. It has several applications for leads generation, promotions, brand building, and gaining consumer insights. It is the only personal channel enabling spontaneous, direct, interactive and/or targeted communications, any time, any place.
Media planners need to understand the Nigerian wap market is mature for mass market and hitting of 12M pages monthly by Nigerians on the BBC site is a clear testimony that the reward is great and the early adopters will win this race.

Emmanuel Okoegwale
Emmanuel@gomobileng.com

The mobile telephony is changing the lifestyle of people and business communications worldwide with Billions of SMS sent worldwide annually and over 50 million carrier grade SMS sent in Nigeria daily, SMS is positioned to be the most used communications medium of all time.

Despite the widespread illiteracy in Nigeria and many other countries in Africa, SMS is still widely used even in tribal languages which do not need special alphabets. Early adopters like in the Philippines, the SMS Capital of the world where about 500 million sms was sent on New year day 2008,is an example of country where emerging economics should learn from in areas of SMS services deployment.

SMS does not require any special application download like other mobile medium like mms, wap and Gprs and this is one unique advantage it has and hence is spread and popularity.

While many European and Asian countries use sms extensively to further their lifestyle and businesses, Nigerians are not exploring much of this cheap technology apart from “text-2-win” promos.

SMS can be very useful in many spheres of the economy. In the Public sphere for example in Philippines, low income taxes are already being administered via sms and it is a huge success. It is very fast , efficient and easy to administer. In many Asian countries, emergency numbers alerts systems are deployed for emergency notifications during natural disasters like earthquake , Tsunami and Hurricanes while Nigerians are free from these natural catastrophes, theirs are man made disasters like Armed banditry, militancy, corruption, HIV, poor governance and police harassment. Simple sms feed back systems can help in all these areas. The Niger Delta villager can be empowered to send a simple sms to report an oil spillage before it gets out of hand, citizens can send sms to a short code to report criminal activities, sms can be used as a whistle blower for the corrupt officials, police feed back systems with live sms updates will go a long way in tackling criminal elements in our society.Traffic offenders are now tracked via SMS is some countries and all the enforcement officer needs to do is send sms with plate numbers to do a back ground check on any motorist, anytime and anywhere!!! It is cheap and efficient.

Already some European nations are already toying with the idea of having sms elections in future elections .All the voter is required to do is to check for their eligibility by texting their social security numbers to a short code and if eligible, they get a response and they cast their vote via sms.

In Business Sphere, SMS is doing well in Nigeria as Banking services notification system which helps to check mate fraudulent activities but it is yet to be deployed for more robust services like check verification systems and third party payment systems. Sms feedback systems is also changing customer facing technology in the FMCG sector. SMS feedback systems allows product owners and service providers to quickly get customers complaints via sms. This was not possible before as customers are either required to call an unmanned call centre number or send it through email.

Now SMS Brochure requesting is possible in Most part of Europe and people just make request through sms to get product brochure and even account opening forms.

SMS is not about “text-2-win” promotions. It is more than that. It is a powerful tool that can be used in all areas only if private entrepreneurs will see the opportunities.


Emmanuel Okoegwale
Emmanuel@mobileworldmag.com

I just got a promotional marketing SMS from my mobile operator asking me to sign on for daily live football scores via SMS. Great product but am I not signing. I am one of the odd young men in the age bracket of 25 – 40 years who do not like football. I have never been a football fan and my expectation of the operator is that by now, they should have studied my download patterns and send targeted adverts relating to my interest only. This is poor segmentation practices.

Segmentation is the process of partioning markets into segments of potential customers with similar characteristics who are likely to exhibit similar purchase behavior. The objective of subscriber segmentation is to analyze markets, find a niche develop and capitalize on this superior competitive position.

Poor segmentation of subscribers is the major reason for low level consumption of mobile value added services in Nigeria because the marketing is wrongly targeted.

Subscriber decision making process though objective but yet it is an emotional process whereby various factors influence the purchase decision. These factors are many and since the mobile operators has the subscribers download records, this should be used to form basis for marketing to that particular subscriber. Google mail (gmail) displays targeted adverts relating to the contents your emails .If the patterns becomes consistent, then the user is profiled for detailed email marketing that matches the interest and lifestyle of the email user!!! I find that very interesting and useful ,many times.

Some Nigerian Mobile operators had tried many strategies but most of them, though popular but without data collections. Youth marketing of MTN and Glo are commendable but is not yielding any data of relevance to long term strategy and subscriber segmentation.

The overall benefit to subscriber segmentation is to improve the mobile operator’s competitiveness and better serve the needs of the subscribers effectively and efficiently.

Segmentation might be more expensive initially but it is more cost effective than mass marketing strategies in the long term. Mobile operators will be able to deploy products that meets the needs of the subscribers. Many of the value added services products do not meet the real life needs or even lifestyle of the subscribers but mobile operators in Nigeria may not really know this because the subscribers are on the high side and the numbers adequately cover up for the glaring imbalance in subscriber and vas consumption ratio,in the short term.

It will also help in determining effective and cost efficient promotional strategies. I am of the opinion that mobile operators in Nigeria will save millions of Naira annually if they properly target subscribers against the present mass marketing which was why my 70 year old grandma was sent SMS marketing promotional of Micheal Jackson “thriller” caller ring back tune to her phone. Poor targeting.

Emmanuel Okoegwale
Mobile Marketing Specialist
emmanuel@mobileworldmag.com

NCC Vs NBC in the emerging convergence Regulation in Nigeria

With the Federal Government of Nigeria’s consideration of merging the National Broadcasting commission and the National Communications commission, the Nigeria landscape is getting ready for convergence regulation that reflects the reality of 21st century. With the launch last week of Mobile Tv by MTN and DSTV, It is goodbye to the old order. Without the merging of these two key regulators, their functions will be over lapping. The old order of regulation does not accommodate the new realities of convergence where Telecommunications, Information technology and media are now moving into new frontiers in technology, content and media.


The concept of “convergence” is frequently used to describe the development of global information society. The process of convergence starts when previously separate technologies coming closer together as a direct consequence of the advances made in ICT. The most profound changes will probably take place as a result of the process of technological convergence of the previously separate telecommunications, cable, information, publishing and mass media industries. These industrial sectors are often referred to as ‘converging industries’. Borders that once separate them are now increasingly being blurred. Presently, we have different types of networks for telephony, broadcasting ,radio and television and they are regulated differently and usually by separate authorities. National Broadcasting commission regulates, Radio and television while National communications commission regulates telecommunications.

Convergence regulation, encompassing telecom, IT and broadcasting while Multi-sector regulation, where telecom is joined together with other infrastructural
Utilities such as electricity, gas and railroads. While Competition regulation is a broad range of different industries, where telecom is only a tiny fraction.

In my own opinion, I believe strongly that Government is trying to achieve convergence regulation though they did not clearly state it because government business always has political undertone at the detriment of excellence.

Convergence of technology is breaking new content aggregation, delivery and consumption of communication services. The major technological changes that have facilitated the convergence processes are digitalisation and computerization.

Digitalisation enables new possibilities for development and creation of services within and beyond the framework of traditional communication sectors. It is, for example, likely that services that go beyond the traditional broadcasting services, like Internet services, Mobile Tv, Triple play services will have a certain weight on the broadcasting market in the future, as demand for these services is increasing with the penetration of the ICT. When transmission capacity for end-user sites reaches that needed for transmission of video services, the Internet can be one of the platforms for interactive TV services.

Emerging new infrastructures with more capacity, developments in the traditional networks
enabling them to offer more capacity to end users, and developments in compression and
coding technologies resulting in less bandwidth requirements for audio and video services all
have diminished the technically based limitations for different networks to provide an increasing variety of different types of services. But there is still a long way to go before network capacity constraints are substantially eliminated.


Emerging new infrastructures with more capacity that can provide these new innovative services are Strong compelling reasons why the NBC and NCC Merger should be consummated soon so that they can offer regulatory policing because of the new changes in content that were formerly dedicated for specific industries can now be conveyed on a single or similar infrastructures because of the common digital form. This presents new possibilities for end users and new market potentials for producers, but it also presents
regulatory problems that have to be solved.


Some countries like Indian had been able to foresee the future possibilities and hence they have planned ahead.
They merged infrastructure regulation and content regulation. The new Communications Commission of India (CCI),is a regulatory framework that
facilitates the efficient utilization of available resources in different networks. The Indian communications regulator, integrates infrastructure and content regulation in one institution.

The UK is another example, in which the government united five existing regulatory bodies dealing with communications into one regulator, OFCOM, with authority in both infrastructural and content questions.

The challenges of such merger in Nigeria will be availability of highly skilled and knowledgeable helmsman to pilot the affairs of this new regulatory commission. There will be new challenges in a new way entirely because of the blurred border line between Telecommunications and Broadcasting. While the National communications was able to become the toast of the nation and a role model for regulators all over the continent was because the focused and purposeful leadership under Engr Ndukwe and his team mates.

The question is that with the Nigerian way of doing things, will they allow excellence and right judgment to reach a decision in choosing a new regulator or they will merge them with NCC still in control?

Since the movement of the convergence seems and is from telecommunications sectors,it will be more productive and more visionary to allow the telecommunications regulator to midwife the emerging convergence regulator.

Nigeria as a nation should invest more in ICT regulation training and studies to be able to consolidate its ICT successes in recent years. Convergence is shaping the present and future development of the ICT and media industries in ways
that challenge the existing institutional set-up.

Emmanuel Okoegwale
Emmanuel@mobilemarketingafrica.com

Yes,I am part of the event for May 21st and not May 1st. Early Bird registration ends in two days time.

Pls feel free to contact me and we can talk further.

Regards,

Emmanuel
08030818868

Hi Butchman,
I can offer you excellent consultancy in that regards.With all sense of modesty,I have been consulting for one of Europe's Largest mobile ad agency and locally in Nigeria,too. Do a google check on my full names to read about some of my activities.

Lets meet and talk further.

Regards,

Emmanuel Okoegwale

We just hosted Europe's largest Mobile marketing firm in Lagos,yestarnight.They are looking at oppourtunities.

Very soon,you will start seeing full MOBILE MARKETING AGENCIES in Lagos.I promise.

Send me a personal mail.Then we can talk.

You have good undertsanding and grasp.Lets meet sometime and see the oppourtunities.Mobile marketing is not about text-to-win and sms shorts.Its actually like a Bill board of its own with very good entertainments.

Take a look at www.mobilemarketingafrica.com to see what we are trying to do by bring together all the stakeholders later this month in Nigeria.

Your observations are quite correct.oppourtunities abound but the stakeholders are not putting forward strong compelling contents with high entertainment value.In mobile marketing,ads and entertainment run,hand in hand but in Nigeria what they call Mobile marketing is actually text-to-win or some funny sms broadcast.

They are not exploring wap sites,mobile videos and many others.We need to effect that change or else Nigerians will actually get used to it as it is.

Mobile marketing is used to describe marketing via the mobile devices and phones.In Nigeria, traditional methods of marketing is still the way to go because it has been tested and trusted over the years even with its declining Return on investment.Nigeria media marketing is worth over 4 Billion Dollars according to the Nigerian Marketing Association, Apcon.
Television, outdoor media and Radio accounts for the bulk of media channels in nigeria while internet is less than 0.05( There are only 6 internet connections per 1000) and mobile is just evolving.The focus is on the traditional media but the future and the reality is pointing towards Mobile.


There are 23 million Televisons sets in Nigeria, 7 Million Radio sets, one fully national Television station,60 regional and semi regional Tevevision stations, one national radio station but 42 million mobile users in a population of 140 million.Figures dont lie.
While Traditional media is largely untargetted, Mobile marketing can be tailored to targetted audiences,measure and track result,reduce cost and capitalize on emerging technologies.

The percularities of the Nigerian lanscape should have long prompted Brand managers to start asking their agencies questions about Mobile marketing, in face of the gradual decline in all other media channels.Television viewship is declining at a fast rate for the following reasons,influx of cheap Chinese pirated movies,electricity failures,absence of prime time Tv shows and absence of national Television stations.Radio has its own challenges too and outdoor is location specific.Mobile is the only meduim with anywhere and anytime advantage with possiblities to accomodate all array of features like video,mms, pictures, sms, internet and others.Mobile is more powerful personal meduim than any other.And it is time, that Nigerian Brands exploit the oppourtunity.


While Nigerian Brands want to be seen in the leagues of world class Brands but they should also understand that No world class brand evolved through a single advertising media but rather through a range or media.Survey of world class leading brands found that best performers were those that integrated their marketing across range of media and often blurring the lines between advertisement and entertainment,which consumers tend to enjoy.

The challenge of Mobile marketing buying process is still unclear in Nigeria.Brand owners who desire to infuse mobile marketing into their marketing mix do not clearly understand how to go about it.Do they approach the mobile network operators,value added service provider or a marketing agency? Few mobile marketing mobile marketing campaigns that had been deployed in Nigeria are mainly by the value added services providers which lacks the touch of Brand managers because they dont have brand managers in house.Nigerian Marketing agencies do not have mobile agency departments or even desk.

Mobile marketing should not be limited to the normal text-to-win promotions in Nigeria.It is a two way communicator which will bring the much needed interactivity because consumers want to have closer relationships with fewer brands. And the mobile provides such channel.



Emmanuel@gomobileng.com

Farmed out License Holder, Etisalat Nigeria sure understand how to engage the subscribers in the 3G Era. During the launch of the Network last week in Lagos, the company spokesperson mentioned something significant. He Etisalat will deploy innovative Mobile Services like the mobile cam.Mobile cam allows 3G subscribers to dial into a gadget at home or office and be able to take a quick look around the location and even record voices.

The significance of this is that while other operators in Nigeria are trying to sell 3G Services based on Television services, the late entrant is looking at it from a strong compelling side, security. I am quite disappointed that the operators do not clearly understand what the technology can do. They keep stressing on TV while not offering a strong reason why subscribers will want to switch from their non paying terrestrial tv or satellite pay Tv to yet another Mobile pay Tv. Mobile operators are not even making a pretence about building contents around the ever popular and money spinning Nollywood. Two to five minutes mobisodes of Nigeria Drama, musicals and comedy will be a huge hit in the 140 million fun loving Nigerian market but the operators are rather focused on full length sports and news channles.This does not come cheap for an average Nigeria whose ARPU is hovering around 10 dollars.

Without a perfect understanding of the 3G Marketing, the Nigerian 3G Project might be heading for doom.

The advantages of 3G is that it has a higher bit rate and operators can therefore deploy more data intensive applications. It allows for increased call volumes and support multimedia data applications, such as video and photography.

The operators need to start thinking along the three spheres of 3G applications.
First is the Business Sphere which allows for Mobile videophone, video conferencing, database management and informational services.

Second area is the private sphere which allows karaoke on demand, music on demand, portable Television, interactive games and video on demand while third area is Business sphere. This allows traffic informational service, personal security, remote monitoring systems, Electronic newspapers, Home schooling systems and remote monitoring systems.


Etisalat’s understanding of 3G marketing gives some hope and something to look forward to. At least in the Nigerian telecommunications market, there is clear differentiator. All the operators need to do is to see an operator launch a service and all others will follow suit.

Emmanuel Okoegwale
emmanuel@gomobileng.com

With 15 million, my subscribers are more than the population of Lagos (Most populated state in Nigeria) and also more than the population of Burkina Faso!! But I am not MTN.

I will operate like a collosus that I am but will be fair to all. Will use my position as the Dominant player ( The Kingmaker,NCC clarified the position) to nurture new entrants as that is part of the duty of a dominant operator in other countries.Help them grow and not stifle their growth.I will be a nice Big mama.But I am not MTN.

I will not wait for sanctions before I increase my capacity.Though as I speak,Billions of Dollars are beign spent on expansion so that my citizens (sorry, susbscribers) can make more calls.Atleast,I make more money when they make more calls.People from other Kingdoms (My critics) dont know this.Will also be collaborating with Banks rolling out Branch infrastruture to accomodate my base Stations for a rental. But I am not MTN.

My Mobile Value added services is where I will show the class that I truly belong.I will differentiate my products like Blackberry from what other Tom,Dick and Harry,are offering.I will implement sms/Email language translation which allows subscribers to communicate in 16 international languages.This will actual make my subscribers global Big Boys.Cell Broadcast technology will be launched and all Brand owners and Organisations will abandone their traditional method of marketing and adopt my location aware mobile marketing.I will ensure that this portable device with anytime and anywhere usuage replaces traditional media.But I am not MTN.



For my fixed telephone/Internet provider,VGC, I will ensure a workable installation turn around time of 24 hours instead of the present 14 days.It will be achieved by outsourcing all end user installations to third parties and calculating their cost per metre from the last point of presence.

Lastly on Tariff,that looks good.I will not change that.Atleast,I came down from per minute to second.I dont think their is anything after second or Millisecond.But come to think of it,I am not MTN.Just a citizen(subscriber) in the Yellow Kingdom.

Emmanuel Okoegwale

emmanuel@gomobileng.com

Television stations these days are filled with adverts of Central station, a social networking site for networking,entertainment and information. I am yet to explore what the site offers because I don’t meet up with the requirement to log in. I don’t have a celtel Number.

Virtual communities are online communities that are able to socialize, network and generate their own content. Self generated contents are in fact the most powerful element of virtual communities because they are able to compare and aggregate their experiences.
Nigerians are not new to Virtual communities, we have very good and impressive foot prints in my space, you tube and even second life.

why do companies engage Virtual communities? Owners or sponsors of Virtual communities always make it seem as if it is only the consumers that benefits but the company benefits too. Companies use virtual communities to expand their markets by capturing the primary loyalty of their consumers.

Since Nigerians are beginning to see the benefit of internet marketing but yet they still need international web pages like yahoo to engage the local audience, central station and Nairaland and Nigeria Villiage square might turn out to be our own local success story.

If Nigerians web impression at Bbc wap site remains the highest in the world with internet availability of only 6% of total population, that means with current efforts network operators are putting in place and if Internet penetration reaches more than 10% of total population, Nigeria will sure take its rightful place in the 7th continent, The Internet.

Emmanuel Okoegwale
emmanuel@gomobileng.com
www.nigeriamobilemarketing..com

I am not into copy and paste Business.I am the conference Manager for the event.

Mobile marketing is there to eliminate spam and not make it go the way of the internet .It is about permission based marketing.

We are here to educate the spoilers not increase their numbers.

Thank You

The African Mobile Marketing & Advertising Summit is the foremost event of the year dedicated to communication and loyalty on the mobile in the emerging markets. With the huge growth of mobile communications in Africa, this event will be bringing together advertisers, communication agencies, content developers, and mobile service providers.

Estimates for the value of the mobile marketing market vary from $2billion - $11.5 billion by 2011. What is certain is that this industry is growing, and growing fast. By attending the first annual African Mobile Marketing & Advertising Summit 2008, delegates will learn how to take advantage of new revenue streams to drive growth in mobile data usage and generate highly profitable advertising revenue.

The mobile industry is gearing up for one of its biggest challenges to date and now is the time to make sure that you position your organisation to take advantage of the opportunities available. You will hear case studies from operators, big brands, advertising agencies and content providers to enable you to maximise revenue from the value chain.

This insightful Conference will roll out the powerful and state-of-the-art technology campaign strategies and tools in reaching customers and building brand awareness through mobile marketing.

There has never been a more important time to position your organisation with the mobile marketing value chain.

Learn powerful campaign strategies and techniques straight from the foremost international and local experts that will help your brand connect with the country's over 42 million mobile phone users.

Key benefits

* Network with executives from brands, telecom operators and agencies at the forefront of mobile marketing in emerging markets.
* Hear real life case studies on brands which have already implemented mobile marketing campaigns.
* Understand the challenges and barriers to mobile marketing.
* Hear from telecom carriers how they are breaking into the mobile third screen and how they can help drive uptake of the mobile through pricing plans.

Visit www.mobilemarketingafrica.com for more information


Emmanuel@gomobileng.com
www.nigeriamobilemarketing..com