Nollywood movie lovers all over the world will soon have a new destination for watching movies as IROKOtv launches on December 1, 2011.

Iroko Partners, the company that acquired the exclusive rights to distribute all of Nollywood movies online, currently has the largest collection of movies available anywhere, organized in one place.

Although IROKOtv will allow you to watch all of these movies for free, it may eventually charge users a subscription fee after June 2012, thus adopting the Netflix business model. [More on this below]

Netflix, founded in 1997, is the world’s leading internet subscription service that revolutionised the watching of movies and TV shows online. With about 25 million members as at June 2011, the service lets you watch as many movies as you want for a monthly subscription fee of $7.99.

Netflix recorded $822 million in revenues for Q3 2011 and forecasted earnings of $841 million to $875 million for the fourth quarter although the service lost more than 800,000 U.S subscribers in third quarter.

IROKOtv could just become Africa’s own Netflix providing unlimited access to African movies and TV shows to the world, growing its membership base and generating huge revenues in a few years.

Currently, the NollywoodLove channel on Youtube sees over 1.2 million viewers monthly and has generated about $1 million in revenues mainly from adverts on the movies.

But, Iroko Partners have realised that putting Nollowood movies only on Youtube could be restrictive and limited as it doesn’t allow them to build a membership base and explore other revenue streams such as the subscription model available on Netflix.

With the subscription model, IROKOtv would be able to charge its members a small fee for watching movies (without ads)  and for free (with ads) on its own platform.

The platform could also bring full length episodes of your favourite and popular TV shows such as Naija Sings, Big Brother Africa, etc as well as TV soap operas to its platform for members to have access to online.

Besides, internet-connected devices such as the Xbox 360, Wii and PS3 consoles as well as the Apple TV or Encipher TV could easily be connected to your TV or HDTV for streaming instantly from IROKOtv.

Of course, an IROKOtv application can also enable you to watch all of these video content on your iPad, iPhone, Galaxy Tab and other Android-powered devices.

However, for IROKOtv to really become the ‘Netflix of Africa’, broadband connection speed will have to be optimal, as no ISP or Telco currently offers ‘real’ broadband in Nigeria, due to the lack of a national fibre backbone infrastructure.

Although watching video content instantly may work with different levels of broadband, a minimum speed of 500kbps (0.5MB) is highly recommended.

At the moment, NollywoodLove sees more than 90% of site traffic coming from regions like the EU, North America, the Caribbean and the Middle East, where broadband services are more readily available and where there’s a huge number of Diasporan Nigerians.

Hopefully, when broadband becomes readily available and easily accessible in Africa, more and more Africa-based viewers will begin to form IROKOtv’s primary audience.

I think that if IROKOtv could attract a critical mass Africa-based audience as well as a huge global audience; expand their video content offering to include African movies and TV shows and episodes; and generate revenues in the excess of $1 billion annually, it could really become the ‘Netflix of Africa’!

Over the last four years, I’ve covered a lot of technology startups and companies, innovative products within the tech sector and the people behind them (I’ve lost count), but haven’t had the opportunity to organise them in a database such as CrunchBase.

After several months of planning, we now have a prototype directory with technical support from our partner, 24labs, a technology lab based out of Cameroon.

Today, I’m announcing the pre-release of what will become Africa’s biggest technology database of companies, products and people behind them. Call it ‘Crunchbase of Africa‘ if you like

For now, the directory allows you to find a little bit of information about a tech company, product or person within Nigeria and will soon include information from other African countries.

As it is with databases, it will take some time to populate and update the data and information, so if there are companies, products or people that you expect to see that are not on the database, please be patient.

In the meantime, you can send us info about you, your company and your product, if you would like to be added to the database. In the future, we’ll open up the database for people to contribute.

In the next couple of days, we’ll be implementing a feature below articles that relates with a particular company, product or person that we’ve covered. In the nearest future, we’ll be launching a research unit that will provide data & market intelligence and analytics of the web, social media and tech space in selected African markets.

We’re currently looking for research and data entry interns (paid) at Techloy.com, so if you’re interested, kindly email jobs at techloy.com with subject ‘Research Intern’ and reasons why you want to work with us. Note: You MUST be passionate about tech, possess research and editing skills and have a minimum of 6 hours of Internet access per day.

I’m hoping that you’ll use the database and feel free to tell us what you think or ways to improve on the project. Check out a few companies, products and people we already have on the database.

The word is out: Google is secretly working on a project that is capable of making it dominate Nigeria’s Internet ecosystem in years to come. That, I call Net-Colonialism! You may call it Colonialism 2.0, if you like.

The search behemoth succeeded in keying into the  interest of the Nigerian Internet Registration Association (NiRA) by pledging their ‘support’ for the promotion of the adoption of .ng domain names.

If truth be told, Google wanted to get 40,000 (.com.ng) domain names for FREE from NiRA to show their support for the adoption of .ng domains and get small businesses to own a website with all the goodies that Google would offer the small businesses.

But NiRA refused to give away their domain names for free since that would affect their core business. So when Google was willing to pay for the domains, which would provide NiRA a whooping revenue of N40 million annually (at the rate of N1,000 per domain), NiRA bought the idea as nairastic since it would only affect web design and hosting companies which is not their core business.

Google then sought to partner with all the domain registrars in Nigeria and have them become ‘domain resellers’ (domain agents, if you like) to Google. This move would have automatically made Google a ‘Super Registrar’ and given it full control of the Nigerian domain and hosting business, perhaps fixing prices at their will.

As soon as Google realised how unethical this move would have been percieved, they backed out of the negotiations. According to a statement from Google:

“…After much internal discussion, we have decided to provide the domains at cost and have the SMEs pay the standard N1,500 /domain. However, we will no longer require NIRA to provide discounted .com.ng domain names and Upperlink will remain as our only recognized registrar.”

So why did Google back out of the discussions if they really had good intentions for the ecosystem?

If the deal had continued, what would have been the implication for domain registrars, web design/hosting companies and local developers and entrepreneurs?

Domain registrars would have had no choice but to become resellers
to Google (just as recharge card sellers are to MTN, Glo etc) and this would barely make them survive.

Web design and hosting companies would have become support staff to Google, more like labourers that would scavenge content and customers for Google and would no longer have control of the customers and thus would not make any revenue on a yearly basis either from domain/hosting renewal or from web design.

Is there a Win-Win Situation?

In my opinion, Google’s approach did not really show they wanted to become a committed partner. With this approach, Google was looking to take over and dominate the market. Period.

Google should have invited interested partners (domain registrars, web design and hosting companies) to work with them to put Nigerian businesses online in a win-win approach.

In this case, Google should have provided the software (Google automated site builder, Google apps for email and other collaboration services) and market visibility (free listing on Google Maps, etc), while the local partners provide the domains, web hosting, maintenance and support to the small businesses. NiRA, on the other hand, should have provided 1 year free domains to the small businesses in support of the initative. NiRA can charge yearly after first year, at their discretion.

A good example of this approach is Microsoft’s BizSpark programme, which essentially helps fast-track the success of early stage technology startups with all the right resources, including software, support & marketing visibility.

Here, Microsoft’s BizSpark Network Partners share their passion for driving the success of software startups through mentoring, networking, business advice, financial assistance, and peer connections. The Network Partners also understand the startup environment and understand what it takes to succeed.

If Google had borrowed a page from Microsoft’s book, this would have been a welcomed development and I’d probably be the first person to laud this move. Most domain registrars, web design and hosting entrepreneurs I’ve spoken with between yesterday and today think that Google may have a good intention, but their approach wasn’t right.

Of course, I’d love to see 40,000 local websites of small businesses that can’t afford standard costs of web designers and developers on the Internet in Nigeria within the next one year, if only Google does the right thing.

If Google had adopted this approach, the locals would be actively in the game and in charge of the customers, and not a Google-dominated Internet economy. Still, Google will make revenue from adverts in email and Google Apps will be more popular and relevant to Nigeria.

If only.

Image courtesy of Opinion Maker.

My post and tweets got the attention of Mobitel Nigeria, one of the ISPs that may be experiencing issues with their service in recent times. In a direct message sent to me a few hours ago via Twitter, the @MobitelNigeria representative apologised for the challenges I’ve experienced with their network.

He further said that Mobitel doesn’t believe that these challenges have been there since I acquired their device and that my experience is not the true nature of their network and does not reflect the quality they have worked to build or wish to deliver.

No doubt, Mobitel 4G is a great network. I used the service at a friend’s place when they launched sometime in December last year. But, it is possible that the quality of service has decreased due to more and more people joining their network.

And that’s not just peculiar to Mobitel. It happens to almost every new Internet service out there.

However, it could also be that Mobitel’s coverage area is not as strong as required where I reside in Ajah in the Lekki Penninsula. The Mobitel rep acknowledges that if in the course of a diagnosis they find that my current location of use is not well covered, they will advise and as appropriate.

But a quick look at Mobitel’s Coverage map found here, shows that Ajah seems well covered with infrastructures in Victoria Garden City (VGC), Thomas Estate/Abraham Adesanya Estate and Modupe Young Street, off the Ajah-Badore Road, which is pretty closest to where I reside.

Perhaps these infrastructures are not robust enough or are simply inadequate to cater to the community. Again, I’m not sure if Mobitel has a base station around the Lekki axis, of which if present could boost Internet speed within the area.

But whatever the case, I’d like to believe that Mobitel is not any of such ISPs that advertise what they can’t offer. But with its touted 2.3 GHz frequency, we shouldn’t even bother making complaints or twiplaints, as the case may be.

Last wednesday, I launched with much excitement a new technology news blog at www.techloy.com!

After several months of intense planning (at times during the heat of the day) and spirited strategising (mostly in the quiet of the night) for an independent media site that can cover and cater to the needs of the local tech, mobile and startup ecosystem, the launch was greeted with great excitement from the Internet community.

Within the past week, I’ve covered some very exciting stories and revelations on the blog. (Go check ‘em out for yourself) But nothing as big as a story that could break the TechLoy server yet

So why TechLoy?

Simply because I believe it’s time for me to build an independent tech media network that provides relevant news and information about what’s happening and what to expect within the industry in West Africa’s tech markets.

To achieve this, I’m building around me a great team of carefully selected experts in their own field, coupled with our combined network of contacts within the industry. More will be revealed about these people when appropriate.

Oh before I forgot, many thanks to Anibe Agamah for designing and developing such a great technology blog! And thanks to Ahmad Mukoshy for designing the TechLoy logo. These guys are rock stars!

So what next for LoyOkezie.com?

Well, there’s not much to say for now than: expect the creation of the brand – Loy Okezie.

But hey, don’t be in a rush to unsubscribe from the blog’s feed or even stop visiting this blog. Just be assured that what would become of LoyOkezie.com pretty soon is perhaps the best kept secret

See you around!

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Local URL shortener service, Yrn.me has redesigned its logo and website which went live today. The service which launched in February 2010 was the first URL shortening service to come out of Nigeria. [Here's what it looked like before redesign]

YRN.ME, a 5-lettered domain name better spoken as “Yarn Me” (Nigerian slang word for “tell me”) can shorten up to 2,000 characters length of web addresses to merely 20 characters. (Oh, by the way, it has already shortened over 2300 links so far). Not bad for a service in a saturated space!

The service has since been adopted by Nigerian web users, but has yet to cause a disruption in the URL shortening space currently being dominated by Twitter’s default URL shortener, bit.ly

While Yrn.me offers an local alternative to shortening those long URLs, it is yet to be seen if there’ll be a general shift from other URL shorteners to this service. After 14 months of launch, the service has yet to define a revenue model.

Thanks for the tip @GbengaSesan

Last week, I introduced a new feature: a weekly round-up of the biggest technology stories both locally and globally. Check out last week’s biggest stories here.

So what happened this week? Which tech company made top headlines within the tech world?Yeah, you guessed right:-)

Apple. (Not the fruit, the company) The news of Apple’s iCloud launching at the Apple’s WWDC 2011 keynote and several other interesting announcements and revelations made our week engaging and rewarding.

Without further ado, here comes this week’s hottest tech stories (in no particular order):

1. Apple iCloud, iOS 5 and OS X Lion (Oh, by the way Apple sued by iCloud Communications over iCloud trademark)

2. Twitter Now Automatically Shortens Links

3. Nigerian VC Firm Invests Into Social Mobile Music Service, Spinlet

4.WordPress.com Adds WordPress, Twitter And Facebook Comments (In That Order)

5. Nintendo Announces The Wii U, A Unique Controller/Console Combo

6. Sony Officially Announces Playstation Vita Handheld (With AT&T Partnership)

Of course, there were other tech-related news that disrupted our senses and generally caught our attention. For me, these are the ones that I found most interesting and fascinating to write about.

Just in case I missed something that you think was a huge story, you can whisper them in your comments Just allow me do the hyping

As web companies including Google and Facebook today test the Internet’s readiness for the future, 16 Nigerian institutions appear ready for IPv6, a new Internet protocol with 4 billion times as many addresses.

For years, the adoption rate of the IPv6 has been slow despite the fact that the IP is more than a decade old. Owing to this, participants at the first-ever Nigeria IPv6 Roundtable held last weekend called on the Federal Government to establish an IPv6 Task Force for the country to hasten the adaption and deployment.

Since 2006 to date, only about five ISPs in Nigeria including Netcom, Cyberspace and MainOne have migrated from IPv4 to IPv6. The other IPv6-ready companies are telecoms connectivity and IP solutions providers such as Gateway Communications, Phase3 Telecom and Layer3 as well as institutions such as Unilag, Unijos and Nnamdi Azikiwe University.

A Reuters report confirms that the prospect of large numbers of modern IPv6 networks coming online — especially in the developing world where systems based on the previous protocol, IPv4, are not widespread — is beginning to push organisations into action.

In case you don’t know, IPv4′s specifications which were drawn up in 1981 when the population of the world was 4.5 billion, can only allow for 4.3 billion IP addresses. Today, there are more than 2 billion people online, and most of them connecting to the Internet with several computers and smart phones.

IPv6 allows the Internet to scale to meet the expectations and demands of a global population of 7 billion, as well as the number of devices expected to be able to connect to the Internet in the future.

It is expected that Nigerian institutions would gradually transit from IPv4 to the new protocol in readiness for the future.

Two new satellites, NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X would launch into the orbit before end of June 2011, several media sites have reported.

The NigeriaSat-2 is expected to be used to provide high resolution imagery for mapping, food security and other purposes within the Nigerian territory, while the NigeriaSat-X is an experimental satellite solely designed to provide Nigerian engineers with training and experience in using the facilities of National Space Research and Development’s technical partners in the United Kingdom.

According to NASRDA’s Head of Media and Corporate Affairs, Felix Ale, the two satellites would be a follow up of the success of the NigeriaSat-1 which was launched in 2003, although de-orbited 18 months after launch due to power related problems.

Speaking on the success of the Sat-1, Ale said that the satellite had supported over 2000 applications for research within and outside Nigeria pointing out that it had also assisted in the area of flood disaster in Argentina, Uruguay, North Korea, Pakistan, China, Vietnam, United States and some parts of Africa.

He further stated that the NigeriaSat-2 would provide a high resolution system to map Nigeria once every four months and will support the NGDI programme by providing high quality data and enhance human natural resources in the use of satellite data.

Image courtesy of RAES