TheNewsGuru

Tag: NCC

  • In photos: NCC boss, Danbatta meets media executives in Lagos

    In photos: NCC boss, Danbatta meets media executives in Lagos

    The Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC) Prof. Umar Danbatta, is currently holding a special interaction with media executives in Lagos.

    From Left: Mrs Funlola Akiode (Director licensing and authorization), Sunday Dare (executive director, stakeholders management), Prof Umar Garba Danbatta EVC/CEO NCC), Tony Ojobo, (Director Public Affairs) and TheNewsGuru publisher, Mideno Bayagbon)

    NCC host media chiefs: Omoniyi Ibietan, Mr. Tony Ojobo [both of NCC]; Mideno Bayagbon and Group Managing Director, TheNewsGuru.com, Mr. Jewell Dafinone of TNG

  • Beware of fraudsters distributing contract letters on behalf of NCC

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has cautioned members of the public against letters of contracts purportedly awarded by the commission in circulation, saying they are fake.

    The commission said in a statement on Saturday in Lagos, that its attention had been drawn to the circulation of letters of award of various contracts purportedly written by its Secretary.

    “The commission wishes to categorically state that these letters were not issued by the commission.

    “When contracts are to be awarded by the commission, adverts are published in various newspapers, the Federal Tenders Journal and our websites.

    “The procurement process adopted by the Commission is always transparent and can be duly verified.

    “The general public and corporate organisations are advised not to transact business with the unscrupulous persons issuing these fake letters,’’ it said.

    The telecommunications regulator urge members of the public to ensure that thorough diligence was conducted in all cases to avoid falling victim to the peddlers of the fake letters of award.

    It said that offers of the fake letters of award should be reported to the commission or the law enforcement agencies.

    “Any person who deals with such peddlers of fake letters does so at his/her own risk,” the commission said.

     

     

    NAN

  • Telecoms masts pose health hazard only if EMF exceeds limit – NCC

    The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Garba Danbatta has continue to argue against the position of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) that exposure to electromagnetic field (EMF) from base transceiver masts is hazardous to human health.

    Prof. Danbatta’s position as reported by TheNewsGuru was that the belief that telecom masts and/or towers constitute health hazards was mere imagination and myth, stressing that the belief “…has no scientific base”.

    Prof Danbatta was responding to questions yesterday in Abuja at a sitting of the House of Representatives’ Ad Hoc Committee that is currently investigating the health implications of mounting telecommunications masts close to buildings.

    “With regards to other professional bodies like Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), we don’t have any quarrel with their positions.

    “The only question is when we say exposure to electromagnetic field is hazardous to health what level are we talking about? We have to define the level of exposure that is hazardous to human beings.

    “Of course if you generate a massive electromagnetic field of unprecedented proportion and put a person inside, there will be medical consequences,” Danbatta said at the sitting.

    To prove his point further, Danbatta said given the concerns, researches so far conducted in areas where telecoms masts are located have not indicated any adverse health effects.

    “What we are saying is that: provided the limit specified is observed and NCC is there to ensure compliance with that limit, there is no health hazard.

    “There is a limit of safety below which electromagnetic fields do not cause any harm to health,” he explained.

  • We need 80 Thousand Base Stations for Smart Nigeria – Danbatta

    We need 80 Thousand Base Stations for Smart Nigeria – Danbatta

    The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Garba Danbatta has said Nigeria needs at least seventy thousand to eighty thousand telecommunication base stations to actualize the dream of joining the club of countries working toward making Internet of Things (IoT) a reality by leveraging 4G and 5G networks.

    Prof Danbatta, who made this known at a sitting of the House of Representatives’ Ad Hoc Committee investigating the health implications of mounting telecommunications masts close to building, yesterday in Abuja, said the country currently has less than 50,000 base stations.

    “3G, 4G going to 5G networks are going to usher this country into smart applications, the Internet of Things or the smart world and cities we are talking about.

    “And of course because of the additional burden on infrastructure, the present capacity of telecom infrastructure is grossly inadequate to cater for these additional platforms or services we talk about.

    “Therefore we will need from 70,000 to 80,000 base transceiver masts to be able to provide the effective capacity that is needed to deploy 4G going to 5G,” Danbatta said while responding to questions from members of the ad hoc committee.

    He later called on other approving agencies at all levels of government in the country to synergize with NCC with a view to achieving the target, noting that the United Kingdom (UK), with a population of almost one third of Nigeria already has close to 60,000 masts.

  • Government institutions lagging behind in adopting ICT – NCC

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has lamented the snail pace at which government institutions are adopting Information and Communication Technology (ICT), stressing the institutions have lagged behind far too long, and have to turn a new leaf.

    The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, represented by the Executive Commissioner, Sunday Dare, made the lamentation at the Beacon of ICT Distinguished Lecture/Awards Series in Lagos.

    He noted that while “our youth have fully embraced ICT, our government, institutions both public and private are still in the process of adopting ICT in their operations and activities. Yet, the future lies in ICT. Nigeria must make deliberate policies that will accelerate ICT penetration.”

    While regretting the technology weaknesses among public institutions, he however disclosed that government has made some commendable strides in adopting ICT in various aspects of its operations.

    “However, a more systematic and accelerated approach will yield more dividends; create more opportunities and jobs for the economy and our teeming youth,” he stated.

    According to him, Nigeria is yet to acquire the full dividends of the ICT revolution.

    “Nigeria, though already plugged into the ICT ecosystem, is yet to harvest fully the dividends of the ICT revolution sweeping across the world,” Danbatta said, adding that ICT has become a one-stop shop for modern tools of development, innovation, employment opportunities and for a smarter world.

    He said that as the world moved towards the Fifth Generation (5G) revolution and the Internet of Things (IoT), Nigeria must embrace fully the opportunities offered by the ICT.

    The NCC EVC said that Nigeria’s ICT initiatives must focus on cyber crimes, cyber security, indigenous software development, digital multimedia platforms, amongst others.

    Convener of BoICT, Ken Nwogbo, said that the lecture is aimed at charting the way forward for the ICT sector in order to put the country on the global ICT map.

    Nwogbo said that the awards were to reward best practices and recognize outstanding contributions to the growth of the sector.

  • NCC confiscates pirated films worth N600m

    NCC confiscates pirated films worth N600m

    The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has seized pirated works worth N600 million during its raid of seven warehouses in Awodi-Ora Estate of Apapa, Lagos State.

    According to Mr. Obi Ezeilo, the NCC zonal manager, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, it was part of its ongoing war against piracy.

    Ezeilo said the commission seized thousands of boxes containing textbooks, motivational books, bibles, dictionaries, medical and health books, among others.

    Among the pirated books were “Songs of Praise,’’ belonging to University Press, “Mastering Steps to Numbers for Beginners,’’ belonging to Metropolitan Publishers, “Engineering Mathematics’,’ a Macmillan Publishers book, “Oxford Dictionary,’’ University Press, and “Modular English Course,’’ Evans Publishers.

    Also seized were “Champion Mathematics,’’ belonging to Macmillan Publishers, “Primary Mathematics Workbook,’’ belonging to University Press Plc, “Living as God’s Children’,’ belonging to African University Press, “Holy Bible,” belonging to Holman Publishers, and “Social Studies,” belonging to Lantern Publishers.
    Ezeilo said the anti-piracy operations unit of the commission had been monitoring warehouses in Apapa suspected to be storing pirated books.

    He said: “The anti-piracy raid followed a series of surveillance and intelligence gathering by the commission within Apapa environs.
    “These provided the commission the clues to the targeted location, where the literary works were pirated and stored.”

    The zonal head said that a team of copyright inspectors, in collaboration with the Nigeria Police, carried out the anti-piracy operations, and, throughout the raid, none of the operators of the warehouses were found on the premises: “Only the landlord of the premises, Anthony Iwuala, showed up and said he was not aware that the warehouses were being used for the storage of pirated literary works.”

  • NCC bans roadside registration of SIM cards

    The Federal Government through the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has placed a ban on open registration of SIM cards.

    Head of Enforcement Unit at the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Salisu Abdu, made the disclosure in Abuja on Wednesday while addressing journalists after three persons found registering SIM cards in open places were apprehended.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Sanusi said it is now illegal for telecom operators or their representatives to do registration of SIM cards in an open or ‘’uncontrolled environment.”

    According to Abdu, the commission had issued a directive to all telecom operators since November to stop their agents from registering SIM cards under umbrellas and in kiosks effective from February 1, 2017.

    In his words: “SIM registration should only be done in a controlled environment- a permanent building with logos and structures of the operators in place – with identities of the agents doing the registration.

    “We came up with this so we will be able to trace where SIM cards are registered to stem the tide of rising crimes, especially kidnapping and militancy.”

    He further revealed that N5million would be slammed on any dealer or operator who goes against the directive.

  • Numbers of Nigeria’s Internet users continue to drop

    ImageFile: Numbers of Nigeria’s Internet users continue to dropThe Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said Internet users on Nigeria’s telecommunications networks declined to 92,446,687 in November 2016, continuing the downward roll of October 2016.

    The telecommunications industry regulator made the disclosure in its latest Monthly Internet Subscribers Data released on Thursday.

    Since NCC authorized telecoms service providers to hike the price of data, which it has since made u-turn on, the number of Internet users have continued to dwindle.

    Also read: NCC orders GSM service providers to hike data tariff and NCC makes u-turn on data tariff increase

    In October, NCC reported that Internet users on both Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks decreased by 391,679 in respect to September figures.

    While the telecoms regulator reported recently that active telecoms subscribers is on the increase(http://thenewsguru.ng/ncc-reports-active-telecom-subscribers-increase/), the result is yet to reflect on the numbers of Internet users.

    The recent figures released by NCC indicates that Internet users on both Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks reduced by 759,683.

    Out of the 92.4 million Internet users in November, only 30,309 users were on CDMA networks, the same number recorded in October. The rest were hooked to the GSM networks.

    The data revealed that MTN had 32,017,779 subscribers, a decrease of 447,000, compared with the 32,464,779 subscribers in October.

    Globacom has 27,122,892 customers on its network in November, revealing a decrease of 62,660 users, from the 27,185,552 in October.

    Unlike Glo and MTN, Airtel gained 311,462 customers to balloon to 19,143,700 Internet users in November. The telecom firm’s October record was 18,832,238.

    Etisalat lost far more customers than other networks, recording 14,132,007 customers who browsed the Internet in November. The figure was 561,485 lower compared to the 14,693,492 users it had in October.

    The NCC data revealed that of the CDMA operators, Visafone is king, commanding 30,305 users, the same as in October.

    Multi-Links has just four Internet users; the same figures recorded for the firm in October.

    Meanwhile, stakeholders have decried the fact that despite IT boom, over 90% of Africans have no access to Internet.

  • Nigeria to achieve 30% broadband penetration by 2018 – Minister

    The Federal Government says the country will achieve the 30 per cent national broadband penetration by 2018 as projected in the country’s National Broadband Plan.

    The Minister of Communications, Mr Adebayo Shittu, disclosed this when he featured at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja.

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

    The minister said government was encouraging all GSM and ICT companies to invest in the communication sector to expand the broadband penetration.

    He said the government was also encouraging a number of initiatives, including foreign companies coming to invest in the country, who had expressed interest.

    “I have had the privilege of attending a number of international platforms where I met a lot of them as the chief marketer of the industry.

    “The ministry of communications is not into business, government has no business in business, what the ministry does is to provide an enabling environment for operators and industry entrepreneurs to be encouraged to invest.

    “When I say entrepreneur, it is not only Nigerian entrepreneurs even the foreign entrepreneurs.

    “Already, the rate at which we are now, we are about 18 to 20 per cent penetration and all of this is mostly as a result of private sector initiative.

    “I am very confident that by the Grace of God within the next two years, we will reach the target of 30 per cent,’’ he said.

     

  • Reduction of MTN’s N1.04tr fine in good faith – Shittu

    The Minister of Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, has said that the reduction of MTN’s fine from N1.04 trillion to N330 billion by the federal government, was done in good fate to save MTN’s business from total collapse and to also protect the jobs of thousands of Nigerians that are on MTN’s payroll.

    The minister who spoke in Abuja yesterday, said: “We must not throw away the baby with the bath water. If they had packed up and left, let us assume all their staff are not more than 5,000, it means all of those 5,000 will lose their jobs.

    “Also those who made investment, who bought shares will lose their shares and the Nigeria banking sector would go into crisis.”

    According to the minister, out of the N1.04 trillion fine for failure to deactivate unregistered SIM cards on its network, the federal government decided to reduce the fine to N330 billion.

    He further said that MTN had paid N80 billion of the N330 billion fine imposed on it by the federal government for failing to deactivate more than five million unregistered SIM cards.

    Shittu, who disclosed this at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum, said the payment was for this first year, representing the first tranche of the total payment.

    MTN, Nigeria’s largest mobile operator, was initially fined 5.2 billion dollars (N1.04 trillion) for failing to deactivate more than five million unregistered SIM cards.

    The fine imposed on the South Africa-owned company was later reduced to N330 billion.

    “For the first year, they paid N80 billion, after paying the initial N50 billion, and they will have to pay for three years until they will complete the N330 billion.

    MTN failed to deactivate 5.2 million unregistered SIM cards on its network, despite repeated warnings from the telecoms regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The fine for the contravention of a single SIM was N200,000 and it was multiplied by 5.2 million SIM cards, totalling N1.04 trillion.

    The NCC had no choice than to impose the fine on MTN. The law never anticipated that one company would be in violation to the tune of millions of lines, the minister said.

    He said: “When it happened, the MTN did four things; one they accepted that they were at default; two, they apologised for that; three, they committed themselves never to allow such a thing to happen; and number four, they asked for remission.

    “Government had to look at a number of factors because if they had to pay this amount; they would pack up. We also knew that we invited the international community to come and invest and anything that will be done which will shake the confidence of international investors in Nigerian economy, we must avoid it.”

    The reduction of the fine was condemned by many Nigerians, leading to an enquiry by the House of Representatives.

    The minister said that even in the court system, if one was fined and could not pay for one reason or the other, the person would ask for reconsideration either by way of appeal or a motion.