TheNewsGuru

Tag: Internet Access

  • NCC puts initiatives in place to fast-track internet access

    To facilitate broadband penetration in the country and in a quest to bridge the digital divide, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has put in place initiatives to fast-track internet access in the country.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, while stressing the Commission has taken services to several unserved and underserved areas in the country, stated this while speaking with newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.

    He said NCC had issued license to seven infrastructure companies to deploy the needed infrastructure to facilitate the required penetration in the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the country.

    The InfraCos licenced by the NCC are Raeanna Nigeria Ltd for South South, O’odua Infraco Resources Ltd for South West (excluding Lagos), Fleek Networks Ltd for North West, Brinks Integrated Solutions for North East, Main One Ltd for Lagos zone and Zinox Technologies Ltd for Southeast.

    “While we celebrate the seeming story recorded in these directions, the NCC has put incentive for infrastructure companies (Infracos) in order to encourage speedy deployment of infrastructure that will deepen broadband penetration.

    “In line with our initiatives to encourage investors for infracos to roll out, NCC created provisions in its 2017 & 2018 budgets for subsidies to the infracos.

    “The Government through the NCC has launched the open Access Model Broadband Deployment. As a prelude to the above, 2.3GHz was issued to Bitflux Consortium; 6 of the 14 slots available on 2.6GHz to MTN Nigeria and 2 slots to openskys. Six slots are still available for assignment,” Danbatta stated.

    As regards Quality of Service, the NCC EVC said the Commission had engaged critical stakeholders to resolve multiple taxations, multiple regulations and indiscriminate shutting down of live base stations.

    “To Optimize Usage and Benefits of Spectrum, The commission has introduced spectrum trading. The NCC has also licensed quite a number of internationally harmonized wireless frequencies and encouraged re-farming of various others to improve capacity.

    “To promote ICT innovation and investment opportunities, the NCC approves grants to facilitate research in areas of need within the industry. NCC has also encouraged telecoms operators to embark on corporate social responsibility initiatives that drive local content development.

    “In Facilitating Strategic Collaboration and Partnership, NCC has hosted Stakeholders Consultations on National Roaming, Industry Working group on short code. NCC has also signed MoUs with agencies like NESREA, CPC, NITDA, CBN, Nigeria Police etc

    “To Protect and Empower Consumers, NCC Engages Consumers through various outreach – Consumer Parliament, Consumer Outreach Programme and Consumer Town Hall Meeting. NCC also declared 2017 the year of the Consumer to underscore the importance it attaches to the consumers.

    “In Promoting Fair Competition and Inclusive Growth, Regulation of VAS and its Framework, Determination of cost based pricing for fixed transmission services in Nigeria and Market Dominance Determinations has been done by NCC.

    “To Ensure Regulatory Excellence NCC has intensified Compliance Monitoring exercises, Promotion of Corporate Governance Code,” the NCC boss stated.

    TNG reports NCC had been acknowledged as one of the foremost telecoms regulator in Africa by ITU.

    The Nigerian telecommunication contributed 10.43% to the GDP in the second quarter of 2018.

    Statistics shows that for every 10% increase in broadband penetration, there is corresponding 1.3% increase in GDP of a nation.

    The country recently achieved broadband penetration of 30.9 per cent in November 2018 surpassing the 30 per cent target by the National Broad Band Plan.

     

  • NCC establishes industry code to regulate internet access

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says it has concluded plans to establish internet industry code of practice to regulate internet access and services in the country.

    Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC made this known at a Stakeholders’ Consultation Forum on the Establishment of Internet Industry Code of Practice in Abuja.

    Danbatta, who was represented by Mrs Yetunde Akinloye, the Director Legal Regulatory Services (NCC) said that the code would clearly define the rights and obligations of internet access service providers.

    He said that the code would also put measures in place to safeguard and protect minors, vulnerable audiences and consumers as a whole.

    “This envisioned as a co-regulatory effort between the commission and industry stakeholders, hence the need for extensive public consultation and in the final document, ‘’ he said.

    Danbatta said that the establishment of the code was conceived to ensure safety, security and to harness the benefits of the internet for good governance and better user experience.

    He said that the Sub-Saharan Africa had lost between seven and 20 per cent of its GDP to cyber crimes as stated by internet society, adding that it was very vital to intensify efforts to secure the country against imminent threats.

    He said that NCC also considered other factors including but not limited to online child protection, privacy and data protection, objectionable content and traffic management practices.

    “The global perspective is that the internet be open and unregulated creativity and internet access. Propositions are for either self-regulation or government regulation in repressive economies.

    “However, both have their advantages and disadvantages. Thus, the drive for a co-regulatory practice as it relates to the internet in Nigeria.

    “Consequently, the NCC in accordance with its mandate to regulate the communications sector in Nigeria as expressed in the Nigerian communication Act 2003 sets out to establish Internet Code of Practice.’’

    Mr Destiny Amana, the President, Nigerian Internet Group, one of the stakeholders at the event said that internet fraud was one the major problems in the country.

    Amana said that there was need to protect the young and old ones online.

    “Hence there is need for check and balances, which the commission is trying to put in place, ‘’ he said.

    Another stakeholder, Mr Adeboye Adegoke, the Programme Manager, Digital Earth, Paradigm Initiative called on the commission to emphasis importance of judicial oversight instead of using phase such as legal authority.

    “The importance of judicial oversight is that it creates system of checks and balances,‘’ he said.

     

  • Nigeria to rake in $4.4b Internet access revenue

    PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has projected that Internet access revenues in Nigeria will rise by a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 16.2% to reach $4.4 billion in 2021.

    This is contained in PwC Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2017-2021 report.

    The report disclosed that mobile Internet revenues will increase by a CAGR of 16.8 per cent amounting to $4.3 billion, accounting for 96.6% of total Internet access revenues in the time frame under review.

    According to the PwC report, while Nigeria will be the world’s fastest-growing Entertainment & Media (E&M) market over period under review, the slowest-growing will be Japan, growing at a 1.7% CAGR.

    Consumers in mature markets such as North America, and Europe, and wealthier Asia-Pacific markets spend a lot more than $500 per capita annually on entertainment and media; growth rates are relatively slow in these areas.

    In contrast, less developed economies feature much lower per capita spending and faster growth albeit from a very low base less than $50 a year in many cases.

    The Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2017-2021 document also revealed that mobile Internet subscriptions will increase to 85.1 million over the forecast period, a penetration rate of 40.1 per cent. The penetration of mobile Internet connections on high-speed services will rise by 29.6 percentage points to nearly 35 per cent in 2021.

    Fixed broadband is not widely available and where it is, the cost is often prohibitive. The majority of subscriptions are via fixed-wireless networks, with LTE-based services replacing WiMAX as the leading fixed-wireless technology. Fixed broadband penetration is very low and will rise from 2.2 per cent in 2016 to 3.3 per cent in 2021 with 89.3 per cent of subscriptions on low-speed services at the end of 2021.

    Recall that in September 2016, and recently, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) announced it would begin a process to select 5 infrastructure companies (infracos) to build and operate open-access fibre broadband networks in five zones.

    This process, the telecoms regulator says will begin in July; and the project will be funded by government subsidies.

    The first two concessions for Lagos State (MainOne) and the North Central Zone (IConnect, a subsidiary of IHS) were awarded in January 2015. The new 5 infracos to be licensed would be for the North-East, North-West, South-South, South-East and South-West zones of the country.

    The NCC first published a consultation paper on the open-access network in November 2013.

     

  • Ethiopia shuts internet access to stop exam cheats

    Ethiopia shuts internet access to stop exam cheats

    Ethiopia has shut internet access until at least June 8 to stop cheats from posting high school exam papers on social media, a government official said on Thursday.

    Hundreds of thousands of students will take the tests throughout the country. The Grade 10 exams began yesterday and will end tomorrow.

    The Grade 12 tests will begin from June 5 and end on June 8.

    Last year, exam papers were widely posted online, prompting the government to reschedule the tests, which are the main public exams for 16- and 18-year-olds to secure places at university and on vocational courses.

    “The shutdown is aimed at preventing a repeat of leaks that occurred last year,” Mohammed Seid, public relations director of Ethiopia’s Office for Government Communications Affairs, told Reuters.

    “We are being proactive. We want our students to concentrate and be free of the psychological pressure and distractions that this brings.”

    Mohammed did not give a precise date regarding when the shutdown would be lifted, but added it would last throughout the exam period.

    He said only access to social media outlets was cut off and that services such as airline bookings and banking requiring internet access remained intact.

    A Reuters witness confirmed that WiFi and cellular internet access has been cut off. Access at embassies and international organisations remained intact.

    It is not the first time that Addis Ababa has pulled the plug on the internet. At the height of protests in late 2015 and 2016, Ethiopia imposed a blanket ban for weeks before disrupting only social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter.

    At that time, rights group Amnesty International slammed the disruption as an “intent on stifling expression and free exchange of information”.

    Critics say Ethiopia, an important Horn of Africa ally of the West sandwiched between volatile Somalia and Sudan, often clamps down on freedoms under the guise of national security. The government denies the accusations.

  • Facebook offers India cheap WiFi via 20,000 hotspots

    Facebook offers India cheap WiFi via 20,000 hotspots

    Facebook has rejoined the race for India’s next billion internet users with a promise of cheap WiFi.

    The company said Thursday it was planning to roll out 20,000 WiFi hotspots across the country over the coming months in partnership with Indian mobile provider Bharti Airtel.

    It has been testing the new initiative for about two years, a CNN report stated.

    ImageFile: Facebook offers India cheap WiFi via 20,000 hotspots
    Facebook Express Wi-Fi

    Customers can sign up for daily, weekly or monthly plans that cost about 10 rupees ($0.15) a day.

    Facebook already has 700 hotspots across four Indian states through other internet providers.

    By charging for internet access in India, Facebook is taking a different approach to rival Google, which offers free WiFi hotspots at 100 Indian railways stations.

    The Indian government is also planning to provide free WiFi to 1,000 villages.

    But the new service should still be affordable, even for many rural Indians. The average monthly income is $160.

    This is Facebook’s second attempt to bring millions of Indians online.

    The first, through a program called Free Basics, was blocked by Indian officials last year after internet activists in the country said it would break net neutrality rules aimed at preventing companies favouring certain websites or apps on their networks.

    India is the fifth country to get Express Wi-Fi after Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria and Indonesia but by far the biggest in terms of potential users. Only about 400 million of its 1.3 billion people currently have access to the internet.

    The world’s biggest technology firms are racing to bring them online and capture a huge market in the process.

  • Internet Access: Google tasks FG on policies

    Internet Access: Google tasks FG on policies

    Internet search giant, Google on Tuesday called on the Federal Government to formulate policies to deepen internet access by Nigerians.

    Mr Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, the Communication and Public Affairs Manager, Anglophone West Africa of the company, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.

    Kola-Ogunlade said that the government always played a role in web content development by ensuring citizens had access to internet.

    “For people to find content on the web they need to be online in the first place; we need adequate policies enabling the web search.

    “Sometime ago, the Federal Government launched the broadband plan to enable many Nigerians connect online.

    “Policies like that will really help.

    “Out of about 68 million Nigerians internet users now, how many of them go online to read stories?

    “The web helps us not only to consume information but also to export our own cultural stories,” Kola-Ogunlade said.

    The officer commended Nollywood, the country’s movie industry, for playing a good role in exporting the stories of Nigeria.

    According to him, many YouTube content creators produce their contents based on Nigeria’s cultural heritage and they have been able to attract target audience from all over the world.

    He identified education as a great tool the government could employ to empower people in the area of acquiring digital skills and access to internet.

    “Educating people on digital skills can improve the number of online entrepreneurs in the country.

    “Education is also very important because it can avail people the access to the web.

    “When we (Google) make our intention known to train a million people on digital skills in Africa last year, the Nigeria government was very supportive of it.

    “Many young people have been able to attend the training; the government, through the office of the Vice President, organised some of the training.

    “I won’t be surprised to see Nigeria’s online entrepreneurs from this initiative in the next few years if this training on digital skills is consistent.’’

    The communication officer said that acquiring digital skills could only be driven successfully by the government.

    In April 2016, Google at a news conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, announced its commitment to train one million young Africans in digital skills in the next one year.

    The training was to enable young people, seeking to develop a digital career, become empowered in the area.