WhatsApp users can now access their individual accounts on as many as four phones, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday.

Meta is the parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram.

“Starting today, you can log into the same WhatsApp account on up to four phones,” Zuckerberg posted on Facebook.

Since its launch in 2009 as a smartphone messaging app, WhatsApp has amassed more than two billion users around the world and been acquired by Facebook.

In 2021, the platform introduced a feature would allow for the service to be used on multiple “non-phone” devices, such as computers, without needing to connect to the smartphone app.

It also made assurances that WhatsApp’s security measures would still work under the new system.

“Each companion device will connect to your WhatsApp independently while maintaining the same level of privacy and security through end-to-end encryption that people who use WhatsApp have come to expect.”

Telecommunications operators need to embrace new approaches to optimise the hardware they use if they are to significantly decrease energy consumption and associated costs, as power-hungry 5G networks reach scale in markets, especially in developed ones.

This is the main point made in a new report from research company ABI Research, which suggested if operators act wisely and optimise the hardware used in their systems, this will bring about a decline in power consumption of up to 70 per cent and, therefore, will reduce energy bills.

Nigeria is hoping to deploy 5G in a few months after concluding and licensing two operators, MTN and Mafab Communications. The process saw the Federal Government earning about $560 million.

According to ABI Research, despite 5G networks being 90 per cent more energy-efficient than 4G in terms of power consumption per unit of traffic, they are very likely to cause “a dramatic increase in energy consumption” due to the implementation of massive MIMO and the level of network densification.

ABI Research has calculated that a 5G base station needs three times more energy to provide the same coverage as a 4G network, which, in turn, results in high energy costs and capital expenditure for operators.

5G and Mobile Network Infrastructure Industry Analyst at ABI Research, Fei Liu, said: “5G energy consumption depends on radio configuration, hardware and traffic load, and over 70 per cent of the consumed energy is in the radio access network (RAN).

“A 5G RAN consumes up to 2.7 kilowatts of power with 64T64R mMIMO configurations in a typical condition, whereas an LTE radio consumes about 0.8 kilowatts.”

The report noted that the dominant contributors to power consumption are power amplifiers (PAs), baseband process modules, digital intermediate frequency (DIF) and transceivers. The analyst company recommended the use of gallium nitride (GaN) for mMIMO, which can result in more than 50 per cent more power efficiency and subsequently reduce power usage and operational costs.

Another suggestion is the deployment of liquid-cooled sites, which are 30 per cent lighter and half the size of standard active air conditioning units. A further benefit is that they don’t require any maintenance, which equates to “significant savings. Telcos can also make use of the new generation of chipsets, which are estimated to save between 30 per cent to 70 per cent in energy savings. “New architecture can also reduce energy consumption, improve coverage, and enhance performance,” she added.
IN a related development, then switch to the 5G network, which targets a better Internet experience, especially in terms of speed will see top companies that offer cellphone services begin a gradual phase-out of cellphones compatible with 3G network.

This necessary phasing out will also affect phones used only for the purpose of calling 911 services and some older 4G mobile phones that do not support Voice over LTE (VoLTE or HD Voice). This change will affect handsets like the IPhone 5, IPhone 5S and Samsung Galaxy S4, as well as many flip phones in 2022.

According to a statement by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States (US), seen by Washintonpost, the following mobile carriers will shut down their networks on phones at respective dates.

AT&T – February 2022; Verizon – December 31, 2022; T-Mobile will shut down Sprint’s 3G CDMA network by March 31, 2022; Sprint’s 4G LTE – June 30, 2022, and T-Mobile’s 3G UMTS network – July 1, 2022.

Other mobile carriers like Cricket, Boost, Straight Talk, and several Lifeline mobile service providers which utilize AT&T’s, Verizon’s, and T-Mobile’s networks may also be affected.

Due to this, the FCC has advised phone users to contact their mobile provider for more information about their 3G retirement plan.

As the rising cost of diesel alongside poor electricity supply and lingering foreign exchange challenges takes a toll on the manufacturing sector, operators have raised the alarm about imminent collapse of the productive sector, if the government does not provide any form of intervention.

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), in reaction to the current increase in price of diesel recalled that over the years, the manufacturing sector has been battered by numerous challenges that have plummeted the number of industries in Nigeria and converted industrial hubs in many parts of the country to warehouses of imported goods and event centres.

The manufacturers noted the exertion of untold hardship on the manufacturing sector leading to the closure of many industries, reduction in capacity utilisation, further decline in GDP, large scale unemployment across 76 sub-sectors and increase in crime rate.

The association identified key challenges confronting the sector as a high operating cost environment occasioned largely by inadequate electricity supply and the high cost of alternative sources, excessive regulation and taxation, and inadequate supply of foreign exchange for importation of raw materials, spare parts and machinery that are locally available.

All these, they noted, have culminated into the lacklustre performance of the sector. Commenting on the rising cost of diesel, Segun Ajayi-Kadiri, Director General of MAN, called for immediate removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) on Automotive Gas Oil, AGO, also called diesel as instant stimulus for immediate reduction in price and expedite action in reactivating or privatising the petroleum products refineries in the country.

To remain in business the manufacturers demanded development of a National Response and Sustainability Strategy to address challenges emanating from the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia and consistent support to manufacturing to accelerate the process of recovery from the aftermath of COVID-19 and previous bouts of recession to avert the complete shutdown of factories nationwide with multiplier effect on the employment.

Other demands include issuance of licences to manufacturing concerns and operators in the Aviation industry to import diesel and aviation fuel directly to avert the avoidable monumental paralysis of manufacturing activities arising from total shut down of production operations and movement of persons for business activities, and addressing the challenge of repeated collapse of the national grid (twice within a week), which is causing acute electricity shortage in the country, especially for manufacturers.

They called for policy to urgently allow manufacturers and independent petroleum products marketing companies to also import AGO from the Republic of Niger and Chad by immediately opening up border posts in that axis to cushion the effect of the supply gap driven high cost of AGO, restriction of the export of maize, cassava, wheat, food related products and other manufacturing inputs available in the country; and granting concessional forex allocation at the official rate to manufacturers for importation of productive inputs that are not locally available.

Ajayi-Kadiri observed that the current increase in prices of crude oil and other refined petroleum products such diesel is one of such disruptions occasioned by external shocks that confirms the interwovenness of economies in the world.

No doubt, he said that the recent short supply and over 200 per cent increase in the price of AGO are part of the backlashes from the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

This resulted in numerous economic sanctions on Russia by the US and EU, which propped up the price of crude oil to $120 per barrel (now moderated to about $100) as Russia oil export is isolated.

He said the association is greatly concerned about the implications of the over 200 per cent increase in the price of AGO on the Nigerian economy and the manufacturing sector, adding, “More worrisome is the deafening silence from the public sector as regards the plight of manufacturers.

“Four obvious questions that readily come to mind that are seriously begging for answers are, what can we do as a nation to strengthen our economic absorbers from external shocks? Should manufacturing companies that are already battered with multiple taxes, poor access to foreign exchange and now over 200% increase in price of diesel be advised to shut down operations? Should we fold our arms and allow the economy to slip into the valley of recession again? Is the nation well equipped to manage the resulting explosive inflation and unemployment rates?”

According to him, in the short term the disruption occasioned by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia will continue to heavily ruffle the global energy space and upset the supply of petroleum products thereby causing persistent increase in the price of refined petroleum products including AGO.