Solar-based internet service provider, Tizeti, has partnered with Microsoft to roll out affordable high-speed broadband internet infrastructure in Nigeria starting with Oyo State. The service comes with an introductory N2,222 or $5 offer for monthly fixed broadband and installation costs.
Through the Microsoft Airband Initiative, Tizeti and Microsoft will leverage low-cost wireless technologies. Making it easier and cheaper for people in underserved communities to access the internet and get connected to the digital economy. The internet in Oyo State will empower more Nigerians, stimulate economic activities, and widen the broadband envelope in Africa.
“Communities need reliable, affordable internet access in our increasingly digital world,” said Microsoft Airband General Manager, Vickie Robinson. “That’s why Microsoft is working with providers like Tizeti to connect the unconnected, expand opportunity, and close the global digital divide.”
Microsoft’s Airband Initiative is focused on advancing digital equity—access to affordable internet, affordable devices, and digital skills—as a platform for empowerment and digital transformation across the world.
Speaking on the partnership, Tizeti’s Chief Executive Officer of Tizeti, Kendall Ananyi, said that Microsoft Airband collaboration will complement Tizeti’s existing initiative in Oyo State and lay a foundation for a robust and thriving digital ecosystem for the large population of vibrant, young people in Oyo State. “We are happy to work with Microsoft on the Airband Initiative as it extends our mission of bringing affordable and reliable internet to more Nigerians outside the digital envelope,” Ananyi said.
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A reader reached out asking us if the Zuku 5 Mbps internet package works well when using it to learn. We sometimes get direct questions like this or see them in the search terms of the website. So I’ll be sharing my personal experience on this subject in this post. You are welcome to also share your experiences in the comment section below.
To start off, I’ll say there are various factors that come to play in choosing a particular service. I remember I was warned against buying Zuku fiber and advised to get Safaricom home fiber instead. Because their experiences had been sour, I went ahead and got Zuku fiber and my experience has been great so far. Actually, two years on and it is still going great. Well except for a few downtimes, but nothing major to make me regret. Interestingly, the folks who warned me had issues with Safaricom a few months on.
Can Zuku 5 Mbps internet package enable learning? I believe your question is can you use the Zuku 5 Mbps package for your educational and learning needs without any lagging and buffering? The answer is simple, YES, and this is why I say yes.
The 5 Mbps package is for light work like email, file sharing, web browsing and streaming. This also includes video calls on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, Google Duo or Google classroom, etc. Watch YouTube, Netflix, Showmax videos or stream any video content and you will be fine. This package will be able to handle all these very well so far as the number of users or devices aren’t more than 5 at a particular time. Zuku says customers may experience degraded performance the more the number of concurrent users.
Let me put it into a personal context. I use the 5 Mbps package and have children at home. At a go I can have one watching cartoons on YouTube on the TV, another watching YouTube on a Tab and yet another on a phone, whilst I go about my work on my PC. Once we exceed this and have about two other devices trying to stream, you’ll see the buffering and lagging start. So if you live alone or with a family of less than five then you should be fine. But it mostly has to do with the kind of applications using the internet. I bet you can have 20 devices doing chats and it will work seamlessly for all.
I have also used it for online learning on LinkedIn learning, Microsoft learn, Coursera and taken exams with Vue Pearson. It did meet the speed requirement for the certification exams on Vue Pearson so it works.
Zuku fiber is currently offering double speed internet to customers so if you purchased a J5 (5 Mbps) package you will be upgraded to 10 Mbps. This is at the same price of Kshs 2,499. I asked Zuku and they say it isn’t a promotion for a short period but a permanent upgrade. So technically you will have enough speed and data to take care of all your learning activities.
If your package is or was the 2 Mbps and it has been upgraded to 5 Mbps you should be fine and not have to worry. So long as the concurrent users aren’t so much to cause the lagging.
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Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
Ghana joins 56 other countries and 420 organizations and companies on developing common principles for securing cyberspace. The Ghanaian president said this during the Global Citizen Festival in South Africa to celebrate the centenary of Nelson Mandela. Joining Microsoft and the common wealth on stage to talk about the path to digital peace.
Sharing on Microsoft’s call for Digital Peace, President Akufo-Addo stated that “57 governments endorsed a new international declaration, the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace to work collectively towards a common goal of protecting cyberspace. The president announced Ghana’s support for the Paris Call and urged other nations to join.”
we are in the right moment to take action to protect the digital world where we live, work and learn.
– Microsoft
Microsoft’s Digital Peace Now campaign encourages world leaders to achieve digital peace. Microsoft also believes we are in the right moment to take action to protect the digital world where we live, work and learn. About 100,000 people across 140 countries have signed the Digital Peace Now petition according to Microsoft.
Microsoft worked closely with the French government.
WIRED shares that Microsoft worked closely with the French government to craft the Paris Call. And calls it “a sign of how tech corporations are playing a more active role in governing the internet”.
WhatsApp Web is finally available to Microsoft Edge browser users.
Microsoft Edge is the official browser that comes pre-installed in Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile operating system. It’s also the browser that officially replaced Internet Explorer (still available in windows 10).
WhatsApp Web was introduced sometime in January 2015 as a web client that mirrors a persons chat account from your phone to your personal computer. This was introduced to provide a richer communication experience to users of WhatsApp. WhatsApp Web isn’t a different chat account or platform. It’s the same WhatsApp account setup on your phone that gets synchronized and mirrored to the PC, so you have the same information.
But up until now it wasn’t usable on Microsoft Edge browsers and still doesn’t support any Internet Explorer version.
How do you go about this?
Minimum requirements to enjoy WhatsApp Web
You need to have an active WhatsApp account on your phone.
You need to have a stable internet connection on both your phone and your computer.
You need to use the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Opera or Safari as your web browser on your computer.
On Windows Phone: under Chats go to Menu > WhatsApp Web.
On Android: in the Chats screen > Menu > WhatsApp Web.
On iPhone: go to Settings > WhatsApp Web.
On BlackBerry: go to Chats > Menu > WhatsApp Web. (On BlackBerry 10: Swipe down from top of the screen )
Scan the QR Code on your computer screen from your phone with your camera.
From your phone, navigate to WhatsApp Web to view your logged in computers or to logout from an active chat session.
Is this an added bonus to you?, because honestly I’ve been looking forward to this as I’ve decided to try out only Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer on a PC as only browsers. There have been some limitations as expected but with more extensions expected to be available in the next major Update aka “RedStone”, I guess I wouldn’t have much to worry about.
Microsoft’s new internet browser designed to replace internet explorer code named “Project Spartan” has finally been revealed as “Microsoft EDGE” at the //Build/ 2015 developers conference.
The logo design picks up traits from internet explorer(IE), and the naming probably comes from the rendering engine; EdgeHTML.
Microsoft EDGE is going to be the main web browser on windows 10 devices, windows phones will run mainly on Microsoft Edge, but enterprise and desktop users will also have internet explorer still installed as an option.
Months of testing and running pilot projects in Koforidua using tv white spaces to provide internet service has come to an end and the first commercial internet service network using TV white spaces in Ghana has begun. This makes SpectraLink Wireless the first company outside the United States to operate a commercial Internet service using the TV White Space radio technology.
TV white spaces, are the unused portions of wireless spectrum in the frequency bands generally set aside for television transmissions. Better use of the spectrum is said to lead to cheaper, more ubiquitous and higher-bandwidth wireless broadband connectivity. TV White Space network has the ability to penetrate foliage, hills, and other barriers while covering an area about 10 kilometers in diameter utilizing minimal equipment and infrastructure.
The commercial service builds on the success of the initial TV white spaces pilot launched in May 2014. Spectra Wireless is the first company in Africa to offer a consumer broadband Internet access service leveraging TV white space technology
Spectra Wireless’ new service launched as the “djungle” or “djungleEd” targets African tertiary education. The service has been launched in Koforidua Polytechnic and is packaged to allow students to have their own internet bundles, determine their own usage and purchase an internet-enabled device for anytime, anywhere access and enhanced productivity.
Affordable ubiquitous Internet access for the entire university population (Purchase high speed internet bundles)
Productivity applications from Microsoft such as Office 365, hosted email and cloud storage (Use relevant apps, including Microsoft Office 365 and The Microsoft Virtual Academy)
Affordable devices and attractive zero interest loans for students in partnership with UT Bank (Apply for zero-interest loans in partnership with UT Bank to purchase select, internet-enabled Microsoft, Lenovo, Dell and HP devices)
“High-speed broadband offers students and teachers a way to access learning resources from all over the world, equalizing the divide between developed and developing nations,” says Fernando de Sousa, Microsoft’s Africa Initiatives general manager.
Packages include Learner (1 day unlimited data for 3 GHS), Trainee (1 month X 1/2 X speed unlimited data for 30 GHS) and Professor (1 week X 4 X speed unlimited data for 33.75 GHS). Subscribers can access the network via WiFi, which is deployed across the campus and in their hostels. White Space radios are used to connect to hostels up to five kilometers from the campus, ensuring that all students have equal opportunities in accessing the service.
“We are excited about finally launching this service. Word is spreading fast, and we are already receiving interest from other universities in Ghana, as well as from the Ivory Coast and Nigeria. I personally want to thank our investors, strategic partners and employees who helped make all of this a reality.” – John Sarpong – President & CEO
