Most parts of the world have been pushing to cage Huwaei
Huawei has lost another market in Europe as Orange and Proximus picked Nokia for the building of a 5G network in Belgium.
The development underscores another win for the United States that has been pressuring its allies, especially in Europe to sever ties with the Chinese firm.
The Chinese telecom giant has been responsible for several telecom network infrastructures in Belgium, heightening the concern of the authorities that engaging it for 5G deployment could pose some security problem.
Huawei became a victim of political conflict between the United States and China, and the telecom giant is gradually losing its lead in global 5G roll out to Finland’s Nokia and Sweden’s Ericsson.
Washington had alleged that Huawei’s 5G network could be used by the Chinese government to spy on Western countries, an allegation the company has repeatedly denied. However, the US government has intensified pressure on its allies recently, to boot out Huawei or risk being cut off from its intelligence sharing.
The Belgium capital Brussels is home to the European Union’s executive body and parliament, and therefore it is a center of interest to the US intelligence agencies.
“Belgium has been 100% reliant on Chinese vendors for its radio networks and people working at NATO and the EU were making mobile phone calls on these networks. The operators are sending a signal that it’s important to have access to safe networks,” said John Strand, an independent Danish telecom consultant.
Brussels’ importance to the European Union explains why it wasn’t difficult for Belgium to choose Nokia over Huawei. Other countries in Europe, including Germany are still contemplating their move on Huawei.
However, Huawei said on Friday that it accepted Orange and Proximus decisions as it portrays fair competition and diversification.
“This is the outcome of a tender organized by operators and the result of the free market. We embrace fair competition, the more diversified a supply chain the more competitive it becomes,” Huawei’s spokesman said.
The deal gives Nokia the chance to penetrate a market which has been dominated for 10 years by Huawei.
“I have tried to become RAN (radio access network) supplier to Orange Belgium since 2003 when the company was still Mobistar. Here we are, finally,” tweeted Tommi Uitto, president of Nokia Mobile Networks.
Orange and Primus said Ericsson would supply the core of their 5G networks, though it is an insignificant part of the deal.
The details of the contract were not made public but Nokia shares went up 3% following the announcement.
However, the deal signals that EU members are becoming more concerned about potential security risks Huawei will pose. With more countries in Europe getting uncomfortable with Beijing’s activities, including the persecution of Uighur Muslims and the annexation of Hong Kong, yielding to the US’ assertion on Huawei is becoming easier.
The UK’s decision to part ways with Huawei earlier has also set a trajectory that many other countries in Europe are likely going to toe.
Outside Europe, other countries are also weighing their choices amidst US pressure. Fueled by squabbles with China on many fronts, France and Canada were quick to part ways with Huawei, opening way for other companies, including Bell Canada, Telus Corp in Canada and BT in Britain to grab market shares.
As Huawei chances to lead 5G deployment wane in Europe and North America, hope lies for it in developing continents. But countries in Africa and South America are not ready for 5G roll out yet.
The global celebration of the 5th year of the introduction of the Sustainable Development Goals has come and gone. A number of activities were done to mark the day across the world. Perhaps, because of the impact of Coronavirus, the virtual space seemed to have dominated in terms of efforts to highlight the change the world needs as it faces a decade to bring about global development that leaves no one behind. With the theme Factivism, which translates to activism based on truthful information, different organisations put in creative efforts to ensure the significance of the day and the theme was not lost on the people. The theme was drawn from the experience of the world in the handling of the Coronavirus pandemic which not only hit the world with a deadly and contagious virus but also came with an attack on truth and truthful information. Thus, as the world battled the virus, it also combated the infodemic that accompanied it.
In highlighting the theme of Factivism, an organisation has highlighted ten critical areas which global leaders and SDGs advocates all over the world must pay attention to if the battle to put the globe on sustainable development footing is to be achieved. Premised on the fact that making a change in the world requires accurate and up-to-date information, these 10 facts are germane in the next decade of action.
Fact 1 : The Planet is getting hotter
This a climate action fact. According to research. 615 million across the world suffer from water stress while 22 million people were displaced across the globe by extreme weather. The world needs to reduce its heavy use of water and reduce carbon footprint to address this problem plaguing the world.
Fact 2: Women are still underrepresented in governments globally
These facts speak to Goal 5. Facts have shown that men still constitute 75% of the members of the parliament globally. This statistics has shown that the world is still leaving women behind in political decision making around the world. The citizens of the world needs to show more sensitivity to women by voting gender equality champions, advocate equal pay, call out gender discrimination and demand for increased gender representation.
Fact 3: An insignificant number of the world holds the largest of the global wealth
This is a Goal 1 focus. It identifies rising inequality as nearly half of the world’s wealth is in the hands of 1% of its population. Chances of people to advance in life are continuously being determined by who they are or where they live. The world needs to support more vulnerable people in all ramifications.
Fact 4: 1 Million important plants and animal species are being lost in seconds
Available statistics show that the world loses one football pitch of tropical primary rainforest while one million plant and animal species remain at risk of extinction. This is a threat to life on land, the goal 15. Global citizens have to eat more sustainably, plant a tree and reduce intake of meat and use of paper.
Fact 5: The population of homeless and displaced people population is rising
The aim of Goal 16 which focuses on peace, justice and strong institutions is threatened as thousands of people flee their homes on a daily basis with impact on the education of children and livelihoods of families. Statistics indicate that 80 million people were forcibly displaced in 2019 by war, conflict, persecution and violence.
Fact 6: COVID 19 has exacerbated existing global learning crisis
No one who witnessed the Coronavirus pandemic could deny the devastating effect of the health crisis. Put that in number, statistics has stated that not less than 1 billion of the world’s students have had their education disrupted across the world magnifying the existing inequalities and worsening the earth’s learning crisis. This affects Goal 4 of quality and affordable education.
Fact 7: Almost two third of the world’s population is breathing polluted air
The Goal 11 of sustainable cities and communities is threatened as almost 2/3 of the world’s population breathes polluted air. The world needs to go more green and reduce carbon footprints to ensure the air it breathes is safe
Fact 8: 84 Million people in Sub-Saharan Africa cannot access essential healthcare
Healthcare access is another victim of the pandemic. It has disrupted health services. As at now, 84 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa cannot access essential healthcare. This has put lives at risk. The world needs to demand more medical care, vaccinations and individuals must keep themselves safe.
Fact 9: Close to 1 billion people do not have enough to eat
Close to a triple of the population of the United States does not have enough to eat across the globe. Almost 1 billion of the world’s population is starving! Individuals must support the World Food Programme and help fight hunger. To attain the Goal 2 of the SDGs, efforts must be coordinated to fight hunger.
Fact 10: Almost half of the world’s population has no access to the internet
Fewer than 1 in 5 people in the least developed countries are connected to the internet. This greatly impacts on the Goal 9 of industry, innovation and infrastructure. Individual citizens must be an advocate of technology for all.
That is Genco (for generating electricity), transco (for transmission of electricity) and disco (for distributing electricity). The young man built the power plant, created the transmission lines and opened it for people to come and charge their phones, etc. Like I tell people, there is nothing new in Nigeria. The news now is that in the Southeast Nigeria, people are creating alternate frequencies (yes, illegal) and government in the 2021 budget will spend close to N654 million to track those frequencies.
The Nigerian government has approved over N650 million (N653,886,584) for the purchase of hi-tech equipment to monitor frequencies in the country, especially in the Southeastern part.
This was disclosed by the communication minister, Isa Pantami, at the end of Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting presided by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, sort the approval of council for deploying hybrid spectrum monitoring system, most importantly to focus on the south eastern zone of the country,” he said.
“From January to August 2020, within the period of eight months, we discovered 320 frequencies being used all over the country and of this 320, one hundred and six were illegal.”
I am looking for a leader who can help harness the immense talent of young people in Nigeria. I tasted this many years ago in FUTO when my Vice Chancellor summoned me that the campus radio station we had designed to serve the university community had been banned by Sani Abacha, and that it must be stopped. We complied!
Look at this video…and tell me why General Electric (GE) would not wish this boy was born in America! Solomon Ukoha is the inventor. He is from Abia state
I signed a letter last week. A U.S. non-profit had written for us to confirm that three of our Learners attended Tekedia Mini-MBA. The Learners had written to the U.S. non-profit for a grant to research the impact of Boko Haram on the GDP of Northern Nigeria (2020 to 2025) under our Tekedia Capstone program. Just now, we are learning that a grant of $12,500 has been approved for the Learners. We congratulate them.
Tekedia capstone is a research paper or a case study exploring a topic, market, sector or a company. It is the most intense part of our program where Learners are pushed to do research as part of the learning process.
To submit this grant, the Learners used a concept note they developed as part of Tekedia Mini-MBA lab. More wins for young people. Learn more about Tekedia programs.
In an unprecedented decision, International Business Machines (IBM) is splitting itself into two public companies. The computing company announced on Thursday it’s spinning off some of its low-margin lines of business into a new company which will be named later. The move is part of its attempt to focus on the more lucrative cloud computing.
“We divested networking back in the ‘90s, we divested PCs back in the 2000s, we divested semiconductors about five years ago because all of them didn’t necessarily play into the integrated value proposition,” IBM’s CEO Arvind Krishna said during an investor call.
Now the firm is taking another shot at it in a way that will create two industry-leading companies, each with strategic focus and flexibility to drive clients and shareholder value.
IBM said it will accelerate its hybrid cloud strategy to drive digital transformations for its clients, and additionally, separate its Managed Infrastructure Services unit of its Global Technology Services division into a new public company.
The separation is expected to be achieved as a tax-free spin-off to IBM shareholders, and completed by the end of 2021.
“IBM is laser-focused on the $1 trillion hybrid cloud opportunity. Client buying needs for application and infrastructure services are diverging, while adoption of our hybrid cloud platform is accelerating. Now is the right time to create two market-leading companies focused on what they do best. IBM will focus on its open hybrid cloud platform and AI capabilities.
This Feb. 27, 2018, photo shows a quantum computer, encased in a refrigerator that keeps the temperature close to zero kelvin in the quantum computing lab at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Describing the inner workings of a quantum computer isn’t easy, even for top scholars. That’s because the machines process information at the scale of elementary particles such as electrons and photons, where different laws of physics apply. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
“NewCo will have greater agility to design, run and modernize the infrastructure of the world’s most important organizations. Both companies will be on an improved growth trajectory with greater ability to partner and capture new opportunities – creating value for clients and shareholders,” said Krishna.
Ginni Rometty, IBM Executive Chairman said the two companies will capitalize on their respective strengths to accelerate digital transformation and infrastructure modernization.
“We have positioned IBM for the new era of hybrid cloud. Our multi-year transformation created the foundation for the open hybrid cloud platform, which we then accelerated with the acquisition of Red Hat. At the same time, our managed infrastructure services business has established itself as the industry leader, with unrivaled expertise in complex and mission-critical infrastructure work.
“As two independent companies, IBM and NewCo will capitalize on their respective strengths. IBM will accelerate clients’ digital transformation journeys, and NewCo will accelerate clients’ infrastructure modernization efforts. This focus will result in greater value, increased innovation, and faster execution for our clients,” he said.
The company issued a statement explaining how the separation will take effect and how each company will work to accelerate growth in their respective field.
IBM, a Leading Hybrid Cloud and AI Company will focus on its open hybrid cloud platform, which represents a $1 trillion market opportunity. Building on IBM’s hybrid cloud foundation, the company acquired Red Hat to unlock the full value of the cloud for clients, further accelerating adoption of the platform.
This platform facilitates the deployment of powerful AI capabilities to enable the power of data, application modernization services, and systems. These are all underpinned by the security, unmatched expertise in industry verticals, and deep commitment to open source innovation that clients expect from IBM.
With tighter integration and focus on its open hybrid cloud and AI solutions, IBM will move from a company with more than half of its revenues in services to one with a majority in high-value cloud software and solutions. IBM will also have more than 50% of its portfolio in recurring revenues.
IBM’s open hybrid cloud platform architecture, based on RedHat OpenShift, works with the entire range of clients’ existing IT infrastructures, regardless of vendor. This platform allows clients to “write-once/run-anywhere,” and enables a hybrid cloud approach that drives up to 2.5 times more value for clients than a public cloud-only solution.
IBM’s unique full-stack capabilities and large ecosystem of partners and ISV’s deliver innovation and enable clients to unlock the full value of the hybrid cloud and their data.
IBM’s software portfolio, focused on data and AI, automation, and security, enables the widest access to innovation through open source. IBM’s business, strategy and technology consultants help clients transform by modernizing their existing applications, and by building new AI-infused data analysis capabilities on the leading open hybrid cloud platform.
IBM’s secure, mission-critical public cloud is designed to provide all required regulatory controls, and offers clients a foundation of open source software, security leadership, and enterprise-grade infrastructure.
IBM’s Systems business, integrated with the hybrid cloud platform, allows cloud-native developers to capitalize on the unique capabilities of IBM’s hardware. Leveraging its long-term relationships with clients, IBM will continue to drive the innovation in hardware that enterprises rely on for their most mission-critical computing needs.
As part of this strategic acceleration, IBM is taking action to simplify and optimize its operating model for speed and growth. This includes streamlining its geographic model and transforming its go-to-market structure to better engage with and support clients. IBM is also continuing to consolidate its shared services.
This simplified and focused operating model will support accelerated innovation for the hybrid cloud, and provide more flexibility to increase investment in growth areas. The result will be an enhanced financial profile with a clear trajectory for improved revenue and profit growth.
The new company (to be named at a subsequent date) will immediately be the world’s leading managed infrastructure services provider. It has relationships with more than 4,600 technology-intensive, highly regulated clients in 115 countries, including more than 75% of the Fortune 100, a backlog of $60 billion, and more than twice the scale of its nearest competitor.
The new company will be entirely focused on managing and modernizing client-owned infrastructures, a $500 billion market opportunity. It will leverage its unrivaled expertise to offer hosting and network services, services management, infrastructure modernization, and migrating and managing multi-cloud environments. These are critical services that are core to client operations.
With a streamlined business model, NewCo will create value by helping enterprises optimize their performance through AI and automation. NewCo’s services will enable enterprises to build agility and efficiency into their infrastructure and datacenters. NewCo will be able to better modernize infrastructures for an unparalleled roster of clients in all industries, with relationships that have been built over decades.
NewCo will extend its leadership through increased investment in the next generation of transformational managed infrastructure services, with more opportunity for margin expansion, profit growth and cash generation.
NewCo will also be able to partner fully across all cloud vendors, opening new avenues for growth, while maintaining a strong strategic partnership with IBM and continuing to serve existing and new clients.
The proposed separation is expected to be effected through a pro-rata spin-off to IBM shareowners that will be tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including Form 10 registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, receipt of a tax opinion from counsel, and final approval by IBM’s Board of Directors.
The company said it expects third-quarter revenue of $17.6 billion and an adjusted profit per share of $2.58.
IBM Chief Financial Officer told Reuters the company will have 90,000 employees and its leadership structure will be decided in a few months.
The computing firm sees cloud as a viable option of diversification, although Microsoft and Amazon are currently leading in that area.
