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Tag: Umar Danbatta

  • NCC moves to tackle disparity in connecting int’l calls

    NCC moves to tackle disparity in connecting int’l calls

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has embarked on a cost-based study to set the new pricing regime for mobile international termination rate (ITR) for inbound international voice calls in the country.

    The ITR is the rate paid to local operators by international operators to terminate calls in Nigeria.

    As part of the process for the rate determination, the Commission has organised a virtual stakeholder engagement forum with relevant industry stakeholders to intimate them with the ongoing cost-based study and the need to cooperate with Messrs Payday Advance and Support Services Limited, the consultants engaged to carry out the study.

    Addressing the stakeholders in Abuja recently, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, said the study has become imperative following the various implementation constraints arising from contending industry and market dynamics that met previous efforts at finding an optimum price for the termination of international voice services in Nigeria.

    Danbatta, who was represented at the forum by the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, NCC, Adeleke Adewolu, said through the new ITR pricing, the Commission will be able to balance the competing objectives of economic efficiency and allowing operators the latitude to generate reasonable revenue.

    The EVC, however, explained that in 2013, the Commission issued a determination stating that mobile termination rate (MTR) rates were the same irrespective of where the call originated, a clause he said was largely misconstrued by operators at that time to mean that ITR should be the same rate as the MTR.

    He said this led to operators ignoring the international cost portion, where ITRs were agreed at MTR level without a positive residual to cover the costs of the international leg for local operators.

    “As a result of this, the ITRs continued to decline, in line with the MTR glide path and as the ITR was set in Naira, it suffered a further downward slide in dollar terms following the currency devaluation. Ironically, the Nigerian operators paid the international operators in dollars to deliver international calls which created an imbalance of payments as the ITR in Nigeria declined,” he said.

    As a result, Danbatta said Nigerian operators’ profitability and commercial results were negatively affected putting Nigeria’s ITR below that of most countries with which it makes and receives the most calls, thereby making Nigerian operators perpetual net payers.

    “This has, therefore, led to undue pressure on the nation’s foreign reserves, which continue to get depleted by associated net transfers to foreign operators on account of this lop-sidedness, hence the need for Nigeria, with volatile currencies, to regulate the ITR to prevent or mitigate the imbalance of payments with international operators,” the EVC said.

    According to Danbatta, where ITR is not properly regulated, it tends to have a negative effect on a market like Nigeria with major supply-side challenges and associated socio-economic implications.

    “So, setting a rate substantially above the MTR has resulted in a number of repercussions. One of such is the consumer shift to online channels as calls are increasingly made through Internet Protocol (IP)-based technologies such as Skype and WhatsApp because of high international call prices. To this end, an economically-efficient ITR that is cost-based will maximise economic benefits to all stakeholders,” Danbatta told the stakeholders.

    Earlier in her remarks, Director, Policy, Competition & Economic Analysis, Yetunde Akinloye, said the forum is aimed at formally engaging with and sharing the perspectives and insights of industry stakeholders and ultimately enlisting their collective support in relation to the inputs and requirements towards the determination of a mutually- realistic ITR in Nigeria.

    She noted that the project commenced on March 10, 2020 with a kick-off meeting but was stalled by the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitating the need to explore emerging channels of engagement to move forward and ensure the completion of the project.

    Akinloye reiterated the Commission’s commitment to continuously provide a conducive environment and level-playing field for the effective interplay of factors that would sustain market development and growth, while ensuring the provision of qualitative and efficient telecommunications regulatory services for the benefit of consumers and licensees.

  • NCC boss bags National Service Excellence Award

    NCC boss bags National Service Excellence Award

    The National Association of State Assembly Legislators (NASAL) has honoured the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) and Chief Executive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta with a National Service Excellence Award.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports NASAL as saying the award is for Danbatta’s transformational leadership in deepening access to telecommunications services across state constituencies of Nigeria in the last five years.

    Director General of NASAL, Hon. Uchechukwu Chukwuma, who led a five-member delegation to the Commission to present the award in Abuja recently, said “the award from NASAL not only underscores the remarkable leadership role by Danbatta in deepening the development and growth of the telecoms sector at the grassroots but also demonstrates the pivotal role of the EVC as a change agent, a catalyst for national development and a great Nigerian patriot.”

    He said in the last five years, NASAL, as the body of state lawmakers in the country, has consistently monitored the activities of the Danbatta-led NCC and observed notable improvements in telecoms services across state constituencies in Nigeria.

    “Danbatta’s efforts have manifested in enhanced access to the Internet by our people, which has given them the opportunity to participate and ventilate their views constructively. As you know, citizens’ participation in political activities is one of the attributes of an ideal democracy and Prof. Danbatta has helped to promote this ideal,” Chukwuma said.

    TNG reports the Award is coming few months after the President renewed Danbatta’s mandate as the country’s chief telecoms regulator for another term of five years.

    The NASAL’s award to Danbatta is justified by the statistics from the Commission which showed that when Danbatta came on board five years ago, 217 access gap clusters were identified in the country, with 40 million Nigerians excluded from access to telecoms services.

    Five years after, however, the access gaps have reduced to 114 clusters with additional 15 million Nigerians now connected.

    While receiving the award on behalf of the EVC, Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, who appreciated NASAL for the recognition, said the award was both an encouragement and a challenge to the EVC and his team to do more.

    “It is heartwarming that NASAL has found our EVC and CEO deserving of this award. The award is an acknowledgement that his accomplishments have not gone unnoticed. We at the NCC, value this gesture, which writes the history of Professor Danbatta’s achievements in a very distinctive and enduring way,” Adinde said.

    Adinde amplified the justifications adduced by NASAL for recognising Danbatta, by citing various indicators that measure the performance of the telecom sector, which clearly show that the sector has been growing over the years and more impressively, in the last five years of Danbatta’s leadership.

    “From the recent industry statistics and other relevant macro indicators, the telecoms sector, under Danbatta, has recorded positive growth in terms of active voice subscriptions, internet subscriptions, teledensity, broadband penetration and contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” he said.

    While noting that the last five years of Danbatta has witnessed a number of policy initiatives that have spurred industry growth and improved service delivery, Adinde restated the EVC’s commitment to ensuring that the Commission maintains its reputation as a foremost communications regulatory organisation.

  • FDI in Nigeria’s telecom sector hits new high

    FDI in Nigeria’s telecom sector hits new high

    The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Nigerian telecom sector has picked up again from $212 million by 2018 to reach $930 million, according to recent figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta made this known during an interactive session with newsmen.

    The EVC, while giving accounts of his stewardship as the Chief Telecoms Regulator in the last five years, said in 2015, FDI in the telecom sector stood at $1 billion but declined to $212 million by 2018.

    He, however, noted that through regulatory efforts, the FDI in the sector picked up again reaching $930 million according to recent figures from the CBN.

    Addressing the forum, Danbatta, who was recently reappointed for another five years in office following the expiration of his first term in August 2015, eloquently enunciated his major policy initiatives that have produced record broadband penetration and enhanced the growth in the telecoms sector, especially in the contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    He also reeled out NCC’s regulatory priority areas for the next five years to include facilitating the attainment of 70 per cent broadband penetration by 2025; consumer protection and empowerment; and consolidation of spectrum trading to ensure maximum and efficient usage of available frequencies.

    Other areas of focus, according to him, will include continuous SIM registration audit to provide security and curtail incidences of banditry, kidnapping, and armed robbery; creation of Emergency Communications Centres (ECCs) in more states of the federation; and execution of the counterpart funding agreements with the licensed Infrastructure companies (InfraCos) to facilitate the digital transformation of the economy.

    Speaking on his achievements in the last five years, Danbatta said that the diligent implementation of NCC’s Strategic Vision Plan (SVP), which focused on the 8-Point Agenda, has helped to lift broadband penetration from 6 per cent in 2015 to 42.02 per cent by July, 2020. The sector’s contribution to GDP increased from 8.50 per cent in 2015 to 14.30 per cent in the second quarter of 2020. In financial terms, Danbatta said the Q2 2020 contribution translates to N2.272 trillion.

    He noted that when he came on board five years ago, 217 access gap clusters were identified in the country affecting 40 million Nigerians without access to telecoms services. “But today, we have reduced the access gap clusters to 114 with 15 million of the 40 million digitally excluded Nigerians now having access to telecoms services. We are committed to addressing the remaining access gap clusters, which are areas outside the frontier of economic viability to ensure the remaining 25 million Nigerians have access,” he said.

    Similarly, Danbatta said on assumption of office, there were 47,000 kilometers of fibre optic cables laid across the country. However, five years after, as a result of regulatory focus, there are now 54,725 kilometers of fibre cables laid across the country through the efforts of some private companies in the sector.

    “In line with the Federal Government’s target, an additional 120,000 kilometers of fibre are being planned over the next four years. In this regard, the NCC is working on last-mile connectivity to different parts of the country through leveraging the 40 terabyte capacity of five submarine cables on the coastal shores of Nigeria,” he said.

    Danbatta pointed out that the licensing of six Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos) to deploy fibre infrastructure across the six-geo political zones will also help to galvanise increased connectivity.

    “This will also bring about a reduction in cost of data from N1000, per gigabyte of data to around N390 with broadband penetration target of 70 per cent to cover 90 per cent of the population within the next five years as contained in the new Nigerian National Broadband Plan (2020-2025),” the EVC said.

    Danbatta, however, noted that “we cannot have pervasive broadband with only 37,000 4G-enabled Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) of the total 50,000 BTS currently in the country. We need more next-generation technologies as we work through addressing infrastructure deficit occasioned by the spike in data usage in the country.”

    In this regard, the EVC said the 5G trial conducted by the NCC in 2019 and its eventual safe deployment in the country will increase data speed and boost efficiency in service experience for the consumers.

    Danbatta also talked about the various consumer-centric initiatives his leadership has put in place to strengthen consumer protection and empowerment in the last five years. These include the declaration of 2017 as the Year of the Consumer, the introduction of the Do-Not-Disturb (DND) 2442 Short Code, the introduction of the NCC toll-free Number 622; the stringent provisions of Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) Registration Guidelines, issuance of direction on forceful subscription and data roll-over, among others.

    Such initiatives, according to Danbatta, also include the constitution of a multi-sectoral committee on e-fraud, revision of the consumer complaints, and service level agreements (CC/SLA) for prompt resolution of consumer complaints by the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).

    He reiterated NCC’s commitment towards delivering on its mandate of ensuring the quality of service to the consumers, driving investment, and boosting healthy competition in the industry as enshrined in the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003.

    Danbatta lauded the role of the media in the reportage of the telecom sector over the years and urged the practitioners to continue to be objective and constructive in their coverage of the activities of the Commission and that of its licensees.

  • NCC remits N362.34bn into FG’s Consolidate Revenue Fund in 5 years – Danbatta

    NCC remits N362.34bn into FG’s Consolidate Revenue Fund in 5 years – Danbatta

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), remitted N362.34 billion into the Federal Government Consolidate Revenue Fund (CRF), from 2015 to date, Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, has said.

    Danbatta, who spoke at an interactive session on Friday in Abuja, said that the revenue was realised through spectrum fees and operating surplus, which he noted helped to boost the revenue generation drive of the present administration.

    Danbatta also said that NCC had continued to collaborate with academics to support the development of the innovative services and life-changing solutions with the use of information and communications technologies to promote indigenous content.

    “The Commission has so far released N336.4 million as research grants to the academia and has endowed professional chairs in two Nigerian universities.

    “More importantly, we have empowered the Nigerian youth by promoting their ingenuity and innovation in the development of locally-relevant technology solutions.

    “The latest of such was the 2020 NCC Virtual Hackathon, where we gave N9 million in grant to three top promising tech startups for solutions, aimed at addressing the impact of COVID-19 and diseases in thematic areas of health, community, productivity, economy and transportation.’’

    Danbatta said that the broadband penetration in 2015, when he first assumed office as Executive Vice Chairman, was six per cent.

    Recall that when Danbatta first tenure ended, he was reappointed in June and confirmed by the Senate on July 21.

    According to Danbatta, the broadband penetration as at July is 42 per cent.

    “This achievement is as a result of key policy initiatives to improve broadband penetration embarked upon by the Commission.

    “These include increasing the number of licenced infrastructure companies (InfraCo), to six across the geo-political zones,’’ among others.

    Danbatta said that the Commission was currently finalising six InfraCo counterpart funding agreements to ensure the full rollout of broadband infrastructure on an Open Access Model.

    He said that this would ensure there was Point of Access in all the 774 local government areas in the country.

    The executive vice chairman said that the drive to boost broadband penetration yielded fruit as the subscribers’ base stood at 199.31 million as at June.

    Danbatta also said that teledensity rose to 104.41 while the sector contributed 14.2 per cent to the GDP in the second quarter.

    On his focus for the next five years, Danbatta said that he hoped to deepen the broadband penetration drive.

    “We hope to take the broadband penetration to 70 per cent to at least 90 per cent of the population by 2025 in line with new target in the National Broadband Plan (NBBP), 2020-2025.

    “We want to continue to protect consumers and ensure they have value for their money.

    “We want to continue to support and fast-track the digital economy drive of the Federal Government and this has led to the creation of a Digital Economy Department in the Commission,’’ Danbatta added.

  • Internet, active GSM, broadband subscriptions hit new high in Nigeria

    Internet, active GSM, broadband subscriptions hit new high in Nigeria

    Active GSM subscribers in Nigeria have increased from 184 million in December 2019 to 199.3 million in May 2020, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta has said.

    Danbatta made the disclosure at the virtual launch/award ceremony of the COVID-19 Research Grant presented to three startups by the NCC on Tuesday Abuja.

    He further explained that internet subscription in the same period increased from 126 million to 147.1 million, while broadband subscription also increased from 72 million to 80.2 million, achieving a 42.02 per cent penetration in the country.

    Danbatta explained that the startups participated in a 3-month virtual hackathon with the theme Virtual Hackathon: “Adaptable Digital Solutions for Addressing the Present and Future Impact of Pandemic and Epidemic Diseases from Technology Hubs, Startups and Innovation Digital SMEs in Nigeria”.

    “These may have given impetus to the possibility of holding virtual meetings and conferences on video technologies that are now providing social distancing solutions.

    “So, in whichever way we look at it, telecommunication has much more greater role to play than many other sectors of economy and the society.

    “Therefore, the challenge is for us to find a way to accentuate our local content solution, which is a blessing to us. We are pleased with the responses that we received on this initiative,” he said.

    Danbatta said that the NCC, has in the past two years managed similar ICT-based innovations and research competitions among tertiary institutions in the country, with potentials of improving local content solutions in the industry.

    “We should be bold enough as a country in adopting indigenous solutions. We must adopt and consume them. There should be less attention on imported goods.

    “It is evident that the entire globe is challenged about how best to tackle this pandemic. Telecommunications and ICTs have taken the centre stage in the provision or advancement of solutions.

    “We will all witness what digital solutions that today’s winners are going to bring to the table. Each of the Startups, or tech-hubs with promising innovative digital solutions against the pandemic will receive a grant of N3 million.

    “We have encouraged ICT innovations among the Nigerian youths whom we have regularly sponsored to various competitions organised by the International Telecommunications Union,” Danbatta said.

    Dr Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, who presented a N9 million COVID-19 research grants to the three promising startups, stressed that there was the need to adopt indigenous solutions to challenges in the country.

    Pantami also encouraged individuals to consume what the country produced and pay less attention to imported goods.

    “We need to produce what we need and consume what we produce, any country that remains a consumer nation will find it difficult to succeed,” he said.

    Dr Henry Nkemadu,NCC Director, Research and Development, said that there was the need to harness the potentials of technologies in order to address societal challenges and meet up to standard.

    Nkemadu explained that the Hackathon was designed to engage the startups to compete in a healthy manner to improve innovations.

    He noted that 298 submissions were received from startups of, which 56 qualified for the final stage of the evaluation process based on the selection criteria and later came up with three winners.

    “It is a national aspiration to spice some of these technologies with local content as a way of improving availability of local manpower and advancing ICT skills.

    “Technology has provided solutions to the challenge of weak public systems by providing solutions to the most challenges in education, health, financial and agricultural sectors,” he said.

    Each of the Startups, or tech-hubs with promising innovative digital solutions against the pandemic will receive a grant of N3 million

    The three winners included-Messers Primed E-Health, Messers Cyberfleet Intergrated Limited and Messers Elizade University.

  • NCC, Danbatta receive awards for keeping Nigerians connected

    NCC, Danbatta receive awards for keeping Nigerians connected

    More awards have come the way of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and its Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta in recognition of the critical role the Commission has been playing in keeping Nigerians and businesses connected since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

    Two of the awards, ‘Human Rights Telecoms Defender’ for the EVC and ‘Human Rights Guard’ for the Commission, as a corporate entity, were presented by Wheel of Hope Human Rights Foundation (WHHRF), a frontline Nigerian Non-Governmental Organisation. The third award, ‘Icon of a Greater Nigeria’ was presented to the EVC by the Youth Coalition Against Corruption (YOCAC), a coalition of Nigerian youths from all walks of life.

    Coincidentally, WHHRF and YOCAC adduced similar reasons for finding the EVC and Commission deserving of the recognitions.

    Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Dr. Ikeckukwu Adinde, who received the awards on behalf of the EVC, appreciated the organisations for their gestures, noting that the three awards will serve as an encouragement to the Commission to continue to strengthen effective, fair and transparent regulation of the telecommunications industry.

    “On behalf of the EVC and Chief Executive of NCC, we thank you for these recognitions. These latest awards will add to the long list of laurels in the NCC’s kitty. There are many initiatives by the Commission, to ensure increased connectivity, improved quality of service and consumer rights protection,” Adinde said while restating the NCC’s commitment to consumer-centric initiatives that promote digital inclusion and advance the digital economy vision of the government.

    In his remarks, Chairman, WHHRF, Jide Abdulazeez, said the presentation of the two awards by the Foundation was in recognition of “the leading role the Commission has been playing in sustaining access to telecoms services throughout the period of the lockdown, following the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.”

    He added that the role of NCC in making the 112 Emergency Number available to Nigerians to report COVID-19-related cases and other emergencies; as well as its efforts in consistently protecting the rights and privileges of telecoms consumers, through effective resolutions of service-related complains, are part of the reasons for finding the Commission worthy of the awards.

    In the same vein, the National Coordinator, YOCAC, Dahiru Umaru, said, “the Icon of Greater Nigeria Award conferred on the EVC is in recognition of his leadership qualities and achievements which have engendered quality regulatory supervision of the telecoms industry by ensuring that telecom consumers are not unduly shortchanged, especially during the critical stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

    According to him, the Commission has been contributing immensely to the growth of the Nigerian economy by ensuring robust telecom infrastructure, making it possible for Nigerians to leverage social media and other digital platforms to ventilate their views against corrupt practices in order to ensure good governance in the country.

  • COVID-19: How NCC is sustaining telecoms services for Nigerians

    COVID-19: How NCC is sustaining telecoms services for Nigerians

    The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Danbatta has said despite the pandemic and the lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19 virus, the NCC did not relent to ensure that the quality of telecoms services is sustained.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Danbatta, who stated this on Friday at the first virtual edition of the telecoms consumer parliament (VTCP), said the Commission took some critical steps in conjunction with the supervising Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy towards mitigating the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on service delivery by the network operators.

    Recall that in the wake of the outbreak of the pandemic in Nigeria, the federal government announced different categories of lockdown measures, which made the mobility and social life of citizens hindered, necessitating the need for individuals, businesses and public institutions to rely more on telecommunications to constantly keep in touch with their relatives, friends and more importantly, for running their daily economic activities.

    Educational activities also increasingly went online following the closing down of schools, while shopping and other activities also migrated online. With all these activities carried out through the internet, network usage is skyrocketing, with many network operators reporting a large increase in data usage. Likewise, the volume of voice calls is increasing by the day.

    Some of the critical steps Danbatta said were emplaced to ensure service delivery is sustained were the approval of resource sharing among network operators and the development of e-platforms where all licensing requests, consumer complaints and base transceiver station (BTS) investigation requests are channelled, and also providence of designated e-mail addresses to be used for such requests throughout the pandemic period.

    “The Commission also secured Right of Passage (RoP) for all telecommunications officials and staff for easy movement during the lockdown and movement restriction in order to be able to service their base stations and keep them active to provide services for telecom consumers who increasingly rely on their networks to work from home. In the same vein, the Commission also secured Right of Passage for suppliers that are involved in supplies of fuels, food and other essential services to telecom operators during the total lockdown,” Danbatta said.

    The NCC EVC/CEO further stated that with the intervention of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, State Governors are now aligning their Right of Way charges to N145 as approved by the Federal Economic Council (FEC), reducing below N145 per linear of fibre laid by the operators in their States.

    “Other State Governors pegged their RoW charges below the N145 set by the FEC while some state governors have totally waived RoW charges in their states. All these are aimed at encouraging network operators to deploy telecoms/broadband infrastructure faster in their states with a view to deepening digital access.

    “As Covid-19 evolves, a new world order where more activities are conducted online and robust broadband access is central is emerging. In effect, most of the State Governors have appreciated the centrality of robust broadband infrastructure as work-from-home measures by government persists.

    “The Commission is hopeful that with the reduction in RoW, which will automatically result in reduction in capital expenditure (CAPEX) by the network operators, telecom companies will sooner or later reciprocate the gesture by making their services in particular, data services more affordable to Nigerians,” Danbatta said.

  • NCC’s projects add significant value to Nigeria’s transformation – Danbatta

    NCC’s projects add significant value to Nigeria’s transformation – Danbatta

    The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, has said that the various projects being executed by the Commission and other agencies under the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (FMoCDE) have been adding significant value to the digital transformation journey of Nigeria.

    Danbatta stated this during the 4th phase of the virtual commissioning of additional 12 digital economy projects implemented by agencies under the Ministry by the Minister, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, which also coincided with the Minister’s one year anniversary in office.

    He commended the Minister for creating a platform for the commissioning of the various projects executed by the agencies under the Ministry, which has helped to showcase the President’s achievements in leveraging Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to propel the economic development of the country.

    Addressing the audience at the event, comprising the Chairman of the occasion, Governor Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa State, Federal Ministers, Heads of Agencies and other dignitaries, Danbatta said the projects are auspicious and will have a far-reaching positive impact on Nigerians, who are the ultimate beneficiaries.

    Explaining the value-addition, Danbatta stated that “through the various projects, we are building shared and sustainable prosperity for this country. We are also making governance more open and transparent because people are able to participate and have a say in the way and manner the country is governed.”

    In addition, the EVC said the “projects will eliminate poverty through skill development; and above all, we are creating a competitive and innovative economy through the promotion of the usage and deployment of various ICT applications and services in the economy.”

    According to Danbatta, “all these are value additions that are unprecedented in the sector, noting that the Commission is proud to be associated with the laudable achievements of the Ministry under the leadership of the Hon. Minister of Communications and Digital economy.”

    The 12 projects commissioned include the Virtual Examination Centre (VEC) at Enugu State College of Education (Technical), Kano State Emergency Communications Centre (ECC) in Kano State implemented by the NCC.

    Three of the projects, including an E-Library at Federal College of Education (Technical) Bichi, Kano State; E-Accessibility Centre (EAC) at Government School for the Deaf, Malumfashi, Katsina State; and School Knowledge Centre (SKC) located at AUD High School, Ikole-Ekiti, Ekiti State, were executed by the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) of NCC.

    Other commissioned projects, which were executed by the National Information Technology Development Agencies (NITDA) include the Digital Capacity Training Centre in Elkanemi College of Islamic Theology, Yola, Adamawa State; and ICT Innovation Hub at Oyo State Trade Fair Complex, Ibadan, Oyo State.

    The projects also include the digital capacity development programme for artisans (DCDP) with centres in Suleja, Niger State; LAUTECH, Ogbomoso, Oyo State; Federal College of Education, Okene, Kogi State; National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT), Owerri, Imo State and Benchils School, Warri, Delta State.

  • NCC Boss, Danbatta bags ATCON award

    NCC Boss, Danbatta bags ATCON award

    The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta has received a distinguished award from the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON).

    The Award was presented to the EVC in his office in Abuja on Wednesday by ATCON President, Olusola Teniola in company of the association’s Executive Secretary, Ajibola Olude.

    Presenting the award, Teniola said it was in appreciation of the laudable contribution of the EVC of NCC towards the successful hosting of ATCON’s virtual national dialogue held for the industry on August 6, 2020.

    According to Teniola, ATCON is recognising and appreciating the EVC “for being a panel discussant on ‘Meeting the Interests of the Government, Consumers, Telecoms and ICT Companies in the Era of COVID-19 and Post COVID-19 Pandemic Cum Digital Era’ dated August 2020.”

    Responding, the EVC appreciated ATCON for the gesture and for the critical role the association is playing in the overall development of the telecoms and ICT industry as a whole.

  • NCC readies educational handbook for telecoms consumers

    NCC readies educational handbook for telecoms consumers

    The Nigerians Communications Commission (NCC) in collaboration with the Industry Consumer Advisory Forum (ICAF) is finalising the production of a telecom consumer handbook in order to deepen consumer education about telecom products and services.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, NCC’s Director of Public Affairs made this known in a statement, following the second quarter meeting of ICAF, the first virtual meeting of the Forum that was hosted by the NCC.

    The NCC, at the meeting, anchored from the Commission’s Head Office in Abuja, reiterated commitment to increase partnership with consumer rights advocacy groups in the sector to expand the sphere of consumer education through timely, accurate and adequate information sharing to enhance the level of education of the average telecom consumer.

    The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive (EVC/CE) of the Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, who spoke through the Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau (CAB), Efosa Idehen, said the Commission is working consciously and appropriately to ensure that continuous and informed conversations take place among all stakeholders in the industry on all matters, particularly as it affects telecom consumers, who are the lifeblood of the sector.

    “The just-concluded virtual meeting of ICAF speaks to NCC’s commitment to give full expression to the metaphorical saying: ‘thinking beyond the box’, to get the work done in the face of challenging circumstances, such as the restrictions resulting from the outbreak of COVID-19. We are, therefore, committed to partner ICAF and other stakeholders in the telecom industry to stimulate value-adding conversations that will generate ideas to sustain and advance the relevance of telecommunications as a critical enabler of digital economy,” Danbatta declared at a brief in-house evaluative session on the ICAF meeting.

    The management of NCC was particularly pleased that issues affecting differently-abled people featured prominently at the meeting and promised that such matters will continue to be on the priority list of the Commission. The differently-abled people are those, hitherto referred to as ‘the physically-challenged’. A representative of the group informed the meeting that the United Nations had passed a resolution that the persons in that category be addressed as “Differently-Abled People”.

    The ICAF also requested all telecom consumer rights advocacy groups to enhance their activities and programmes on telecom consumer information and education; and to be involved, in synergy with the Commission, to increase sensitisation on infrastructure protection.

    While the meeting commended the attention the issue of telecom infrastructure protection has received from the Federal Government, it also called on the Commission to sustain the administrative advocacy on obtaining Executive Order, as well as the legislative process to ensure the passage of the Critical National Infrastructure Protection Bill by the National Assembly.

    The NCC expressed appreciation to members of ICAF for the impressive attendance of the first virtual meeting and for the consistency in being very constructive partners to the Commission since the creation of the Forum in 2009.