NDDC to create 6,300 jobs for youths in online marketing

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has earmarked 6,300 jobs for youths in the Niger Delta region.
Beneficiaries of the scheme that will include unemployed youths, university undergraduates as well as persons in employment who desire to earn more cash, will be trained by online marketing giant, KONGA. COM.
According to the NDDC acting managing director, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, the entrepreneurship training will create jobs and offer financial stability to families.
Semenitari stated that the partnership between NDDC and KONGA. COM is one of the numerous ways the commission under her, is reducing unemployment in the Niger Delta region and creating new entrepreneurs.

NCC allows spectrum refarming for service optimisation

As part of efforts targeted at making spectrum usage more efficient in the country, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is encouraging the refarming of various frequencies.
The NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Danbatta, who disclosed this on Monday, in Abuja, said through this process, some service providers, who hitherto, providing services on the 1800 MHz spectrum band have been allowed to re-farm and deploy services on the 4G/Long Term Evolution Band.
Re-farming is reassigning government-regulated electromagnetic spectrum for services with higher value. The frequency bands are assigned to communications services that yield greater economic or social benefit.
Danbatta disclosed that through re-farming, the commission has been able to revive some of the companies whose services have been hampered by the characteristics of the frequencies.
Already at a forum in Lagos, the former EVC of the commission, Ernest Ndukwe, also made a case

Cybercriminals using IoT devices to spread malware attacks

A Symantec report has revealed that cybercriminal networks are taking advantage of security shortcomings in Internet of Things (IoT) devices to spread malware and create zombie networks, or botnets, without the knowledge of their device owners.
Symantec’s Security Response team discovered that cybercriminals are hijacking home networks and everyday consumer connected devices to help carry out Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks on more profitable targets, usually large companies.
A DDoS attack is an attempt to make an online service unavailable by overwhelming it with traffic from multiple sources.
More than half of all IoT attacks originate from China and the US, based on the location of IP addresses to launch malware attacks.
High numbers of attacks are also emanating from Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine and Vietnam.

5G to reach 690m connections, 300m handset shipments

In a pair of related reports released by Strategic Analytics (SA), the reality of 5G evolution is analysed.
One report concluded significant work is needed to marry the appeal of a unified early 5G standard with the longer term need to support diverse market requirements. Leading operators such as NTT DoCoMo, SK Telecom, Verizon, AT&T and more cautious European operators are plotting very different 5G paths.
The other report predicts 5G commercial handset sales will begin in 2020 and exceed 300 million by 2025.
Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, Guang Yang, comments “5G network plans have developed

Smartwatch shipments to hit 20.1m by year-end

Global smartwatch shipment is expected to reach 20.1 million units at the end of 2016, a new forecast by the International Data Corporation (IDC) has revealed.
According to IDC worldwide quarterly wearable device tracker, smartwatch shipment in 2016 will see an increase of 3.9 per cent from the 19.4 million units shipped in 2015.

Samsung complies with CPC’s directive on recall of Galaxy Note 7 devices

Samsung Electronics West Africa Limited has complied with the ultimatum given to it by the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), requiring it to give a status report on the global recall of Galaxy Note 7 in Nigeria, following reports of explosion of dozens of the device while charging.
It would be recalled that the council had given the company a seven-day ultimatum for it to provide information on the full status of its compliance with the global directive on the recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7.
A statement by the CPC on Tuesday morning said the company disclosed that the device was yet to be launched in Nigeria, and had announced its readiness to provide voluntary exchange to consumers, who may have purchased it elsewhere in the world and brought it into Nigeria.
CPC said the status report which it got said, “customers who already have Galaxy Note 7 devices, Samsung will voluntarily exchange their current device with a new one over the coming weeks,” adding that “customers who have this device should submit it to Samsung authorized Service

Senate probes MTN over $13bn transfer

The Nigerian Senate is probing Africa’s biggest telecoms company MTN for alleged illegal transfer of $13.92 billion out of the country.
Senators Tuesday agreed to begin the investigation and then the members who resumed this week after a long holiday adjourned plenary till Thursday.
MTN declined to comment on the Senate decision.
With 62 million subscribers, Nigeria is MTN’s biggest market.
A motion
MTN shares were down by 4.20 per cent, at 2.46pm (13:46 GMT) on Tuesday.
The cash transfer allegation was made in a motion submitted to the Upper House by Senator Dino Melaye, which said $13.92 billion had been repatriated “illegally” out of Nigeria by MTN through its bankers between 2006 and 2016.