TheNewsGuru

Tag: NCC

  • Internet access: Nigeria’s 774 LGAs to get fibre connectivity

    All the 774 local government areas in Nigeria will be provided fibre connectivity in order to increase broadband penetration in the country, President Muhammadu Buhari has said.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports President Buhari made this known in his 2019 budget speech at a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday, confirming the position of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on the matter.

    He said that in 4 years all the 774 LGAs in the country would have been provided with fibre connectivity.

    “Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind in the digital age. To create jobs for our young people, we will build a digital economy around the technology and creative sectors.

    “In partnership with the states and the private sector, we are working on a project to increase broadband penetration across all geopolitical zones of the country, such that over the next four years, all the 774 LGAs will be provided with fibre connectivity,” he said.

    The NCC had issued license to seven infrastructure companies to deploy the needed infrastructure to facilitate the required penetration in the 774 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.

     

  • NCC to order mobile operators to refund N36bn over forceful subscription

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is set to order mobile operators to refund more than N36bn illegally deducted from mobile telecommunications subscribers through forced subscription to Value Added Services.

    In a statement made available to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, the telecommunications regulator said that it had uncovered a large volume of forceful subscriptions and illegal deductions by network providers.

    Although the NCC did not mention the amount of money deducted from subscribers through forceful subscription, sources informed about the development confirmed to our correspondent that the amount was more than N36bn over a period of two years.

    The statement read in part, “As a consumer-centric regulator, the NCC has noted with great displeasure the unacceptably high level of consumer complaints in respect of forceful subscriptions to Value-Added Services as well as airtime deductions for these subscriptions.

    “The commission mandated several initiatives to tackle the menace. These include the institution of a comprehensive investigation and resolution process, the Do-not-Disturb facility, and the imposition of sanctions for breach.

    “Disturbed by the persistent occurrence of the menace despite these measures, the commission carried out a long and comprehensive investigative audit into VAS subscriptions across all Mobile Network Operators and VAS platforms.”

    It added, “The investigative audit was led by the Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Department of the commission, with participation from its other departments such as the Technical Standards and Network Integrity, Consumer Affairs Bureau, Legal and Regulatory Services and Licensing and Authorisation.

    “The audit team analysed subscribers’ Call Detail Records from MNOs and subscription logs from VAS providers over a period of two years, leading to the conclusion that a huge percentage of VAS services were not voluntarily subscribed for.

    “The audit team also found that some providers had implemented disingenuous mechanisms by which a large number of innocent consumers were forcefully subscribed to VAS platforms, leading to regular deduction of their airtime without their consent.”

    The regulatory agency said that it had persistently insisted that actions such as forceful subscriptions and illegal deductions were unacceptable as they were in direct breach of the Nigerian Communications Act.

    It added that such actions undermined the very foundations of the customer/service provider relationship – transparency and trust.

    The NCC said, “Based on the outcome of the investigative audit, the commission will shortly be directing the indicted organisations to make refunds to affected consumers as appropriate. The commission is also considering and will impose appropriate sanctions as necessary. This outcome justifies the commission’s commitment to evidence-based interventions.”

     

  • Nigeria’s value added service market to reach $500 million in 2021

    Nigeria’s value added service market to reach $500 million in 2021

    Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that Nigeria’s Value Added Service (VAS) market is presently valued at N79 billion ($220 million), estimating the market to grow to about $500 million in 2021.

    The commission’s Director of Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement, Mr Efosa Idehen, made this known during the 2nd Value Added Service (VAS) Stakeholders Forum on Tuesday in Lagos.

    Idehen said that VAS was an important component of the Nigerian telecommunications ecosystem necessary for optimising the benefits of telecommunication services to consumers.

    He added that VAS was non-core service, which were all services beyond standard voice calls, SMS and data products.

    According to him, VAS enables mobile network operators to develop additional revenue streams and can be used in any service industry for services available at little or no cost to promote their primary business

    “The Nigeria VAS market, which is presently valued at about N79 billion ($220 million) is estimated to grow to about $500 million in 2021.

    “The recent reform the commission embark on in the VAS segment of the market is a further recognition of significant role of VAS in the entire telecommunications ecosystem,” he said.

    The director said that like every services, there were both positive and negative impact of VAS on consumers but the positives far out weighed the negatives.

    He said that the commission therefore deemed it fit to find a balance between enabling the opportunities that the VAS providers offered to consumers while at the same time mitigating the challenges or inconvenience they could constitute to other consumers.

    According to him, in finding a balance, service providers are licensed by the commission and are allowed to operate and provide value added services to consumers.

    He added that “consumers are empowered through the Do Not Disturb (DND) facility to choose whether to allow or block access to these services on a full or partial basis.

    ”Consumers have been at the receiving end of unsolicited messages, fraudulent deduction of consumers’ credit for VAS not subscribed for, among others.

    ”And subscribers are asking if what the telecommunications companies and their third parties are adding is ‘value’ or ‘pain’ services,” he said.

    Idehen said that with that in mind, NCC introduced the DND number 2442, which empowered consumers to block all unsolicited messages and VAS services.

    He said that the commission issued a direction requesting that network providers should ensure that information on the DND service be disseminated after every revenue generating activity via the End of Call Notification (EOCN).

    The director said that the EOCN would run for the period not less than 45 days and within the hours of 8am to 8pm daily from the receipt of the latest letter on the subject.

    He said that the operators were also admonished to deploy this information through all their channels of communications.

    The channels of communications include websites, social media platforms, bill boards, flash messages, text messages, Interactive Voice Response platform, radio jingles, newspapers advertisements and television commercials.

     

  • Broadband deployment: Infraco for North-Central withdraws

    Infrastructure service provider (infraco) licenced for broadband infrastructure provisioning in the North-Central region of Nigeria has withdrawn.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, made this known in Lagos on Friday.

    He made this known during the 2018 4th Quarter Forum of the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters’ Association (NITRA) with the theme: Achieving Last-Mile Connectivity Through Affordable Broadband’.

    Danbatta said that the core of robust and reliable telecommunications service was broadband infrastructure, which would provide the needed impetus to achieve last mile connectivity.

    He said that NCC’s commitment to achieve the three ‘A’s of Availability, Accessibility and Affordability was hinged on broadband deployment across the country.

    “Facilitation of Broadband penetration is the number one item and flagship of our 8-Point Agenda.

    “The potential in broadband penetration is enormous, which explains why the entire global community is investing huge resources to exploit and assimilate broadband that is expected to guide global economic index of development in the future,” the NCC boss said.

    He said that a major milestone was achieved recently with the licensing of four infracos to provide broadband infrastructure.

    Danbatta said that these companies were licenced for broadband infrastructure provisioning in the different regions of the country.

    According to him, Zinox Technology Ltd is for South-East Zone; Brinks Integrated Solutions Ltd for North-East Zone; O’odua Infraco Resource Ltd. for the South-West; and Raeanna Technologies Ltd. for the South-South.

    “The Commission had earlier licenced two InfraCos for Lagos in the South-West and North-Central regions which are Infrastructure Company Ltd. (a subsidiary of MainOne Cable Company Ltd.) and IHS Ltd. respectively.

    “However, efforts are underway to licence an Infraco for the North-Central, following the withdrawal of the licenced Infraco.

    “The Licencees are to provide fibre optic infrastructure on an Open Access basis for any telecommunications company to link its network and expand to deploy its services,” he said.

    The NCC boss, who also at the NITRA forum said the coverage of Fourth Generation (4G) technology in the country is still low, did not, however, state why the licenced infroco withdrew.

    Represented by Dr Henry Nkemadu, Deputy Director/Head, Special Intervention Projects, NCC, Danbatta said that there had been a tremendous growth and increasing ubiquity of the mobile networks in Nigeria.

    He, however, said that there was still a proportion of the population that were under-served or unserved with universal access to mobile and the internet.

    “Generally, the most pervasive networks are on 2G coverage and reaches about 90 per cent of the population, while the 3G or 4G coverage still low and a section with little or no coverage,’’ the NCC boss said.

    He said that the telecommunications regulatory body had facilitated universal access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services by providing enabling regulatory interventions to stimulate competition among the industry players.

    According to him, there is an appreciable number of submarine cables landing in Nigeria, delivering a capacity of about 9 Terabits capacity to the country.

    “This is mainly limited to landing points in the Lagos areas and some coastal states like Ondo, Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa.

    “The commission has been making efforts to enable the companies extend this massive capacity inland through various regulatory instruments and interventions to drive down costs and for security reasons.

    “In the meantime, many of the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have islands of cables interconnected in areas of high traffic like Lagos, with multiple fibre cable coverage, leaving other regions with lack of coverage.

    “This poor network planning, therefore, contributes to poor last mile connectivity in Nigeria,’’ he said.

     

  • Telecom industry loses about $60bn annually to call masking

    Telecom industry loses about $60bn annually to call masking

    Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says the telecom industry globally loses about 60 billion dollars annually to call masking.

    Danbatta said this on Thursday in Abuja at the 86th edition of Telecom Consumer Parliament (TCP) with the theme: “Overcoming Challenges of Call Masking/Refilling: Task Ahead for the Telecom Industry.”

    Call masking is the act of concealing international calls coming into a country and presenting them as local in order to make profits from the difference in prices between local and international calls.

    Danbatta, who was represented at the TCP by Mr Sunday Dare, the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management of NCC, said that between 54 billion dollars and 60 billion dollars was lost to call masking.

    He added that the commission was taking proactive measures to curb the menace “even though we don’t have the exact amount lost in Nigeria.

    “This is a global menace which is not specific to Nigeria and it is possible because of innovative technology that is available.

    “We talk about the VIOP which is Voice Over Internet Protocol, we talk about the OTT; Over The Top platforms where you do WhatsApp and all other video calls, thanks to innovative technology.”

    He said that these were innovations and technologies that allowed for some of these to happen.

    “But we are happy to say that in the last eight months, the NCC took very proactive measures, through investigations.

    “I think the most critical point is; we have tried to look for a technological solution to solve what is a slight technical problem.

    “As I speak now, we have found a solution.”

    He explained that the solution was tried in Lagos “and about nine people were arrested in the basement of a house and a few cars.

    “We tried that concept, it is working and we hope to launch it in January.

    “When launched in January; I can assure Nigerians that before the end of 2019, we would have had 80 per cent reduction in call masking”.

    He called on the public to report cases of call masking to NCC for appropriate measures.

    He added that arrests had been made using tracker and the culprits would be prosecuted and treated as criminal offence.

    Earlier in a address of welcome, Mrs Felicia Onwuegbuchulam, the Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, said that the forum allowed for interactions with the public and stakeholders in the telecom industry.

    She explained that the theme of the TCP was aimed at ensuring national security and a level playing ground for telecom licensees.

     

  • 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.

     

  • Nigeria achieves 2013-2018 broadband penetration target

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says the country’s broadband penetration stood at 30.9 per cent as at November 2018 surpassing the 30 per cent target by the National Broadband Plan.

    Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of NCC said this while speaking with newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.

    The Federal Government National Broadband Plan 2013-2018 has set a target of 30 per cent penetration to be achieved by end of 2018.

    Danbatta, represented by Mr Sunday Dare, NCC Executive Commissioner Stakeholder Management said that the commission had exceeded the target it set for itself with over nine per cent.

    “At NCC, we knew we have to meet the broadband implementation plan to get to 30 per cent at the end of 2018 due to the work done, we now stand at 30.9 per cent equivalent of 31 per cent.

    “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 Nigeria.

    “This will enable penetration reach the served and underserved areas in the country.

    “Active Voice Subscriber base grew from 165,239,443 in October 2018 to 169,104,830 in November 2018,” he said.

    According to him, total active broadband subscription on 3G and 4G platforms as at November 2018 was 58,965,478.

    He said all information and progress on mobile, internet and data usage penetration would be sustained to provide the necessary requirements for increased investments and effective regulation of the telecom sector in Nigeria.

    The NCC boss said according to the reports between the first and third quarters, released by National Bureau of Statistics contributions of Telecommunications and Information Services to Gross Domestic Products (GDP ) stood at N4.7 trillion.

    On research grants to universities, Danbatta said N50million had been given to some universities for research that would improve ICT and beneficial to the NCC in the near future.

    According to him, NCC had set up a committee to come up with another strategy plan after the successful implementation of the 2015-2018 plans.

    He said the expected plan would ensure the realisation of the eight point agenda of the NCC that is valid up till 2020 and ensure that customer’s satisfaction is ensured.

     

  • Inability to achieve 30% broadband penetration in Nigeria raises concern

    Nigerian Communication Satellite Ltd. (NIGCOMSAT) has expressed concern over inability to achieve its earlier intended 30 per cent broadband penetration to ease internet access in the country.

    Mr Muhammad Jiya, the satellite company’s Senior Manager in the Department of Innovation and Development, expressed the concern on Thursday in an interview in Abuja.

    It would be recalled that the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu in 2016 said that the country would achieve 30 per cent national broadband penetration by the end of 2018 as projected in the country’s National Broadband Plan.

    Shittu then said that the country had so far achieved between 18 to 20 per cent penetration as a result of private sector initiatives.

    Jiya identified that internet accessibility and connectivity was a huge challenge to many citizens, especially in remote areas.

    According to him, the higher broadband will ensure that those remote areas without access can be reached.

    He added that “not being able to achieve the 30 per cent broadband penetration is a source of concern to us because we need data for the economy and what drives data is connectivity.

    “If we cannot achieve 30 per cent broadband penetration, it is a big challenge but we at least need to get closer to that.

    “If we cannot move closer to that, we hope that government will put more emphasis in ensuring that we go beyond the 30 per cent, which will help us a great deal.”

    However, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) saddled with working toward the attainment of the broadband in November said the country could not achieve the 30 per cent broadband.

    The NCC said that the country’s broadband penetration was presently 23 per cent and was stalled with high Right of Way (RoW) charges and multiple taxation from some institutions and state governments, among other challenges.

     

  • NCC holds stakeholders forum on emerging 5G technology

    Stakeholders in the telecommunications sector on Tuesday in Abuja held a one-day stakeholders forum to brainstorm on Nigeria’s readiness for 5G and High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) technology.

    The forum was organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

    In his presentation, Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Executive-Vice Chairman NCC said the forum was to bring stakeholders in the telecom sector together to develop a regulatory framework in preparation for 5G and HAPS technologies.

    Danbatta was represented by Mr Austine Nwaulune, Director, Spectrum Administration, NCC.

    According to him, though the 5G framework is still being defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), there is the need to prepare toward massive deployment of infrastructure tailored to support the technology.

    He said the commission had identified some potential frequency bands that might be harmonised for 5G deployment, and therefore suspended the licensing of those frequencies.

    Danbatta stressed that this step would ensure that Nigeria was not caught unawares when those frequency bands were harmonised by standardisation bodies, key among these are 26GHz, 38GHz and 42 GHz bands.

    “HAPS is one of the emerging technologies developed to compliment capacity expansion efforts to improve broadband access to both served and underserved areas,

    “The technology is unique and promising, it is scalable and customisable, and therefore often equipped with mission-dependent payloads, which are intended to act as fixed stations, delivering services such as high-capacity wide area coverage broadband.

    “Relay stations, remote sensing, weather observations, navigation, digital TV, within the earth atmosphere, HAPS are also known to be low cost at its implementation and are expected to be the next big infrastructure for wireless communications.’’

    He said that it supports rapid roll-out and had the ability to serve many users, using considerably less communications infrastructure being its key advantage as a wireless communication platform.

    Danbatta said there was therefore the need for strategic government policies, robust frameworks and required infrastructure which was the reason for the forum.

    In his capacity, Nwaulune said the technological evolution toward 5G and the role of HAPS to increase broadband penetration in Nigeria 5G networks are the next generation of connectivity in the telecommunications industry.

    “What we are doing is to bring together stakeholders, people who are involved in one way or the other in 5G technology delivery and the regulatory conditions to discuss with them, rub minds and to guide us in taking further regulatory actions.

    “There is progression, 5G is not about today, there are still trial networks going on around the world, this is just to position people to know that there is something coming in the very near future.

    “All the technology mixes are used in bridging the digital divide and bringing service to the unconnected and some marginally connected.

    “It is the operators that deploy the networks once the standards are set and defined, the operators will roll out their networks that is when it is fully developed.’’ Nwaulune said.

    Mr Austine Igbe, who represented the President, Nigerian Institute of Information Communication Technology Engineers, said the cost of not embracing technology was higher than the cost of ignoring it.

    He added that the nation must be critical of the health and safety implication of the current trends, and must prepare to make regulations that would protect the citizenry from negative impacts.

    The forum had in attendance a cross section of ICT professionals and engineers both within and outside Nigeria.

    A research by McKinsey Global estimated that more than 75 billion devices would be connected to the internet by 2025, with global economic contribution ranging from 3.9 trillion dollars to 11.1 trillion dollars annually.

     

  • ICT: NCC boss urges states to emulate Edo

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has called on every state in the country to emulate what the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, was doing in the area of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and telecommunications.

    Mr Sunday Dare, the Executive Commissioner (Stakeholders Management), made the call in Benin at the South-South Stakeholders Parliament with relevant agencies in charge of telecommunications matters.

    The stakeholders parliament has as its theme, “Optimising The Benefits of Telecoms Infrastructure in Nigeria”

    Dare in his keynote address at the forum, said that Edo had taken the lead role in the sector.

    He said the commission decided to hold the regional parliament in Benin, in-line with the passion of the state government to place ICT at the heart of governance.

    He particularly lauded the state for establishing the Ministry of Science and Technology, to enhance the pace of development.

    According to him, the recent commissioning of the Edo Technology Hub, is reputably the first state backed technology hub in the country.

    “I can recall that his excellency met with the NCC leadership in Abuja sometime this year, to explore opportunities for improving access to telecommunications infrastructure and providing Edo citizens with world class telecoms and ICT facilities.”

    Dare noted that choosing Edo State as the venue for the parliament is a strong reaffirmation of the state’s pride of place in ICT deployment.

    He said Edo had articulated a framework to attract robust telecoms infrastructure to drive manufacturing, education and other socio-economic activities.

    “NCC is already supporting the state with fiber connectivity and computer laboratory services in the College of Education in Benin City and the Institute of Continuing Education, in Abudu,” he stated.

    The NCC commissioner said the meeting would enable everyone to know that telecoms infrastructure was critical to the socio-economic progress of every state in Nigeria.