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Tag: EVC

  • EVC unveils vision smart city project in Ibadan

    EVC unveils vision smart city project in Ibadan

    In a landmark development poised to reshape the urban landscape of Ibadan, the capital of Ibadan, EVC Nig Ltd has unveiled the Vision Smart City, a cutting-edge housing estate designed to provide affordable and sustainable living options for residents. 

    The project, which was officially launched on Saturday, marked a significant step in addressing the housing deficit in the city while promoting smart living solutions.

    Speaking at the virtual launch ceremony,the firm’s Chief Executive Officer, Engr., Fola Oyedeji, underscored the company’s dedication to improving living standards through the provision of quality and affordable housing. 

    “Vision Smart City is not just a housing project; it’s a commitment to ensuring that every resident of Ibadan has access to modern, affordable, and sustainable living spaces,” Oyedeji stated.

    He detailed the benefits of the new estate, highlighting its state-of-the-art infrastructure, green spaces, and smart home technology. “Our goal is to create a community that fosters growth, well-being, and convenience. 

    Read Also; Nine essential Apps Nigerians should have on their phones

    “The estate is equipped with renewable energy sources, efficient waste management systems, and high-speed internet connectivity, ensuring that residents enjoy a comfortable and eco-friendly lifestyle,” he added.

    Oyedeji also emphasized the economic impact of the project, noting that it would create numerous job opportunities during and after construction. “We are not only providing homes but also contributing to the economic development of Ibadan by creating jobs and supporting local businesses,” he said.

    The Vision Smart City is designed to cater to diverse demographics, with housing units ranging from affordable one-bedroom apartments to spacious family homes. The estate also features recreational facilities, educational institutions, and healthcare services, making it a self-sustaining community.

    Residents expressed excitement about the project, praising EVC for its innovative approach to addressing the housing needs of Ibadan. 

    “This is a welcome development for our city. Affordable housing has been a major issue, and VISION Smart CITY offers a solution that meets modern standards,” remarked one attendee.

    The Project situated in Ido Local Government very close to the Omi Adio Train station is set to to ease conveyance between Lagos and Ibadan thereby reducing congestion and travel time.

    As Ibadan continues to grow, the VISION Smart CITY is set to become a model for future urban developments, combining affordability with sustainability and innovation.

  • Senate confirms Danbatta as EVC, NCC

    The Senate has confirmed the appointment of Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta as the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) and Chief Executive of the Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC).

    He was appointed in acting capacity by President Muhammadu Buhari on August 4, 2015 following the expiration of the tenure of Dr. Eugene Juwah.

    According to a statement issued by the Director of Public Affairs, NCC, Tony Ojobo, the confirmation yesterday followed “thorough screening by the Senator Gilbert Nnaji led Communication Committee, before the Committee of the whole yesterday, affirmed Prof Danbatta for the job for the next five years” .

    Before his appointment, he was the Acting Vice Chancellor, Kano State University of Science & Technology, Wudil.

  • Redefining the telecoms revolution

    Redefining the telecoms revolution

    Before he was appointed in July, 2010 as the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Eugene Juwah, who holds a doctorate degree in Engineering from the University of Manchester was already a household name in the nation’s telecom industry as a strategic player in the private sector.  It was no surprise, therefore, to industry watchers that he topped the list among those recommended by the exiting Board of the Commission in accordance with Chapter II, Section 8(2) of the Nigerian Communication Act 2003 which states that: “The Board shall make recommendations to the President on suitably qualified persons for appointment as the Commission’s Chief Executive and Executive Commissioners and the President shall take the Commission’s recommendations into consideration for the appointment”. Furthermore, Section 11(2) of the Act states how such a vacancy shall be filled. It says; “A vacancy in the Board shall be filled by the appointment of another person to the vacant office by the President in accordance with section 8 of this Act, as soon as is reasonably practicable after the occurrence of such vacancy”.

    For a country rated as the fastest growing mobile market in Africa, nay in the world for five consecutive years, Juwah had his job cut out especially on matters of Quality of Service. He reeled out a six-point agenda that would signpost his tenure. This, he said, would help him sustain the momentum of the revolution. They are: Consolidation and Integration of mobile Wireless Services; Fixed Line and Broadband Deployment for National Development; Enhanced Competitive Market, Enhanced Choice for the Consumer; Vigorous Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement of Regulations and Directions; National Connectivity for Accelerated Growth; and Enhanced International Relations.

    For four years,  he has shown a strong desire to fight for the telecom consumer. Six things have stood him out in this regard: The banning of promotions and lotteries by operators; slashing tariff on text messages from about N10 to N4, the slashing of interconnection rates among operators which has a direct implication of reducing tariff on voice calls, the introduction of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) which empowers consumers to make a switch without changing their number, the successful auction of the 2.3 GHz frequency spectrum and the adoption of Open Access model as a precursor to broadband rollout.  These six bold moves, taken in context, have had the direct impact of improving quality of service, cutting the budget of consumers on both voice calls and text messages as well as improving the throughput of operators.

    For the avoidance of doubt, the Commission’s functions and duties are set out in the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 (the “Act”). Section 4 of the Act lists the Commission’s functions, which include the facilitation of investments in and entry into the Nigerian market for the provision and supply of communications services, equipment and facilities. It permits the NCC to ensure the protection and promotion of the interests of consumers against unfair practices including but not limited to matters relating to tariffs and charges and the availability and quality of communications services, equipment and facilities. The section also encourages the regulator to pursue the promotion of fair competition in the communications industry and protection of communications services and facilities providers from the misuse of market power or anticompetitive and unfair practices by other service or facilities providers.

    The last review of the interconnection rate was in 2009. Between then and now, a lot has happened in the sector including quantum growth in network throughput. Currently, Nigeria has over 113 million telephone lines. This has engendered more competition among operators but pricing of tariff still remains comparatively high.

    And if you throw into this menu of tariff slash, the introduction of Mobile Number Portability (MNP), what you get is a highly competitive marketplace where the customer is truly the king. Juwah recognizes that consumers make the network. In a media interview, he said: “At NCC, we realise that without the consumers, there would be no networks or service providers and without the service providers, the regulator has no job; so we will do all that is possible within the law to protect the consumer. Everything we do is geared towards the protection of the consumer but in doing so, we will also give room for the investors to grow their businesses”.

    Juwah’s four years at the NCC has translated to the sustainability of the mobile telecom revolution, improved infrastructure among operators resulting in improvement in quality of service, sustained aggression and strategic focus in the run up to broadband rollout, creation of more jobs, a bolstering of investors’ confidence in the Nigerian telecom market as reflected in the growing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the sector and a record contribution of 8.9 percent of the nation’s GDP by telecom alone.

    No doubt, Juwah may have taken up the job as a telecom regulator at a time quality of service was a red button issue, but he has manifested traits that clearly place him on the pedestal as a regulator who loves to fight on the side of the consumer. He has imposed fines on operators, he has closed the shops of dubious telcos who will not play by the rules and he has slashed tariffs all for the sake of the consumer. Juwah must stay the course. He must neither waver nor flinch. As he intensifies his evangelism on broadband rollout, he must do so with a consciousness that history waits on the wing of time. History surely will remember him as a man who came, saw and overcame. He has indeed redefined the telecom revolution.

    • Ugbechie, is a Lagos-based media practitioner

  • Insecurity, others threaten broadband, says Juwah

    Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Eugene Juwah has identified multiple taxation/regulation, premeditated and accidental vandalism, insecurity, right of way (RoW) bottlenecks as some of the problems that will hurt broadband penetration in the country.

    He, however said the successful auctioning of one slot of 20 megahertz (MHz) bandwidth in the 2.3 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum and the launch of the National Broadband Plan by the Federal Government are part of steps that have positioned the country to join the league of knowledge driven economies.

    Juwah, who spoke over the weekend in Lagos, during the 10th anniversary of Telecoms Consumer Parliament, said: “In the drive towards the provision of pervasive broadband infrastructure, challenges do exist. Some of these are issues of right of way; multiple regulations; multiple taxation by several government agencies; vandalism of telecoms infrastructure; and security challenges in some parts of the country.”

    He said the spectrum auctioned last month will facilitate the roll-out of broadband using the open access model which will ultimately grow the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP).

    “The economic impact of broadband is positive as shown from studies of the World Bank which showed that 10 per cent points increase in broadband penetration leads to a 1.38 per cent in GDP.

    “Although this percentage appears small, if you relate it to the trillion Naira national GDP, the increase is quite enormous.”

    “The impact of broadband penetration on national development is immense: it stimulates economic growth, increase productivity, provide citizens access to government activities as well as enhance e-application initiatives such as e-health, which enhances the delivery of health care to citizens; e – commerce, which enhances the delivery of business activities; e – education, which provide access to knowledge and learning to citizens and e-banking, which provide financial access to all.”

    He said the country has witnessed a voice telephone revolution in the last 12 years when the total connected lines was mere 400,000 in 2001, stressing that the total active lines in the country have reached a phenomenal 117 million as at the end of January this year.

    Juwah said the next revolution is now the NCC’s regulatory agenda which is “Broadband Revolution.”

    He said acknowledging the role of broadband to national development, the Federal Government took several steps including the articulation of a national broadband plan as well as continually taking steps at providing an enabling environment for the development of infrastructure that will support the growth and access to broadband services at affordable cost to consumers. According to him, the framework to support the broadband infrastructure has been fully articulated and is being implemented by the Commission as reflected in the open access model adopted for the country.

  • ATCON warns against backlash of NCC’s policy

    ATCON warns against backlash of NCC’s policy

    The Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has warned the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) against implementing its open access model for broadband deployment.

    It said a similar policy by the regulator a few years ago affected internet service providers (ISPs).

    ATCON’s President, Lanre Ajayi, said the first step in a new policy should be its environment impact assessment (EIA).

    He urged the NCC to undertake an EIA of the broadband policy.

    He said there could be a backlash of a good policy.

    According to him, a policy by the NCC a few years ago which stopped ISPs from operating at a particular band depleted the number of players from 92 to less than 30, adding that the policy might also have a similar ripple effect in the industry.

    “Have we done the socio-economic impact assessment the policy? I think we should do the socio economic impact of the policy before we jump into its implementation,” Ajayi warned.

    Under the open access model, which the NCC intends to implement, a total of seven companies called InfraCos will be licensed to provide broadband services in the six geo-political zones of the country will one of the InfraCos will operate in Lagos.

    NCC Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Dr Eugene Juwah, said the government would provide funds to the InfraCos based on their plan.

    But some players in the sector said it could lead to unfair practices.

    One of the stakeholders in the industry, who spoke on condition of anonymity, lamented that the NCC would spend public funds on the companies the regulator will be licensing to provide broadband services to the citizens.

    “When you deploy public funds to a private investor, such funds will be used to have undue advantage over the players in the industry,” he said.

    But the EVC said there was nothing esoteric about the government offering subsidy to investors, arguing that the earliest players in the mobile telephone services enjoyed tax holidays for about five years, adding that even after the expiration of the five years, some of them were not ready to pay.

    Juwah said since the project for which subsidy was being provided was for the public good, there was nothing wrong with providing such an incentive, arguing that fears of the players in the segment was baseless.