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Tag: NCC

  • NCC, CBN query Barclays’ transparency in sale of 9mobile

    NCC, CBN query Barclays’ transparency in sale of 9mobile

    The two regulators that saved former Etisalat Nigeria (now 9mobile) from being taken over the a consortium of local lenders, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), have questioned the handling of the sale process of 9mobile by Barclays Africa, its financial advisors.

    A letter jointly endorsed by the heads of the two regulators to GTBank, which is the facility agent for the 9mobile syndicated loan, expressed displeasure with the “unwillingness of Barclays Africa” to follow due process in the bid.

    In the letter, dated November 4, 2017,  and endorsed by NCC’s CEO, Prof Umar Danbatta, and CBN Governor,  Godwin Emefiele, the two regulators said they made it clear from the outset that the sale process must be “transparent and fair, with the financial and technical capabilities of the final bidders without question”.

    They said they now have “serious concerns” since the appointment of Barclays Africa as financial advisors.

    “They have repeatedly exhibited signs of opacity in the sale process for 9mobile. Given the overriding public interest in the company and the need for transparency, we advised that Barclays advertise the call for ‘expression of interest’. Barclays declined, insisting instead that the company being a private one, should not be taken through a public sale.

    “This lack of a transparent process has proven to be selective and arbitrary, leading to allegations that the process is being teleguided to a rigged and predetermined outcome. The CBN and the NCC will not fold their arms and allow this to materialise,” the letter read.

    Danbatta and Emefiele said they had received reports and petitions from various stakeholders, including some bidders, which have further heightened their concerns—but their suggestions to the board of 9mobile and Barclays on how to restore credibility to the process have been ignored.

    The CBN and NCC then directed that all steps and decisions taken by the financial advisers as well as other advisers from the end of “expression of interest” must be communicated to CBN and NCC, who will have to approve in writing.

    They also directed that the final bid process must be “open and transparent” in line with international best practices.

    Danbatta and Emefiele said the December 31, 2017 deadline for the handover of 9mobile to the preferred bidders “remains sacrosanct”.

     

    Ten  firms are said to have moved to the financial stage of the bid process to acquire the ailing telco.

    The companies listed are Globacom Nigeria Limited, Bharti Airtel, Alheri Engineering Limited, Smile Telecoms Holdings, Helios Towers, Centricus Capital, Africell, Abraaj Capital, Teleology Holdings Limited, Ericsson, Africa Capital Alliance (ACA) and The Carlyle Group.

    The company formerly known as Etisalat Nigeria changed its brand name to 9Mobile in July after the Mubadala Group, the major investor from the United Arab Emirates, pulled out of Nigeria’s fourth largest mobile operator following a N541 billion debt.

    The debt is owed to a consortium of 10 banks, with GTBank acting as the facility agent.

    The sale of 9mobile, with 21 million subscribers, is expected to bring in the needed capital to restore it to good health.

  • NCC: more emergency centres coming

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Executive Vice Chairman,  Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, has assured that more emergency centres in the country will become operational next year.

    Speaking while receiving a delegation of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), led by its Director-General, Julie Okah- Donli, in Abuja, Danbatta said the project of building and equipping the emergency centres in the 36 states of the federation and Abuja are at various stages of completion.

    “The Federal Government has mandated the commission to provide emergency communications centres in all states of the federation and Abuja. We already have three-digit emergency line, 112, which is equivalent to 911 in other climes,” he pointed out.

    Allaying the concern over high telecoms services prices in the country, the NCC chief said Nigeria had one of the lowest telecom tariffs in the world.

    He said the NCC has so far resisted pressure from telecom operators calling for tariff hike in the voice internet segments to protect many people from being deprived of access to communications.

    “We will continue to look at the regime of fees being charged by services providers: I am talking about voice services, SMS or data service, to ensure these rates are consistent with global best practices as Nigeria cannot live in isolation.

    “We do benchmarking, from time to time, so that Nigeria will not be in the forefront of charging very high prices as well as ensure that the mobile operators are not charging amounts that are unrealistic, which will make them lose their business,” he added.

    Earlier, Okah-Donli told Dambatta that she was at the NCC’s headquarters to seek for collaboration and supports against human trafficking in Nigeria.

    She also revealed that a new subject on human trafficking would start as an independent subject in primary and secondary across Nigeria in next academic session in 2018/2019.

  • NCC to begin prosecution of pre-registered SIM cards hawkers

    NCC to begin prosecution of pre-registered SIM cards hawkers

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday warned that the full weight of the law would be visited on those hawking pre-registered SIM cards in spite of the raids carried out by the commission this year.

    NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management Mr. Sunday Dare, who sounded the warning, insisted that those selling and buying pre-registered SIM cards were breaking the law.

    Dare, who spoke with The Nation on the monitoring of compliance and enforcement of SIM Registration activities by NCC, maintained that imposition of sanctions on perpetrators of illegal activities would continue.

    He said prosecution of offenders would be stepped up in a final push to curb the menace because of its security implications.

    According to him, the recent Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Nigerian Communications Commission and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps will boost operations in this area.

    He added that this year alone, the NCC has imposed about N250 million fines on the telecom operators through the commission’s Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Unit.

    Dare said several joint raids and arrests have also been made.

    “This is a continuous exercise until we get to zero level. There is a renewed push and soon virtually all pre-registered SIM cards will be unplugged from the country’s mobile networks through the new technological solution the commission will soon put in place,” he said.

    A task force set up two weeks ago by NCC is set to announce some drastic measures which may result in huge sanctions on defaulting operators.

    It was discovered that the operators have started to clean up their internal systems in apparent fear that NCC will soon come down hard on them.

  • NCC: why govt intervention is inevitable

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said the government will not hands-off its intervention in the telecoms industry because of the important roles it plays in the economy.

    Liberal economists have argued that government has no business in business, adding that its role should be confined to supervision, regulation and provision of an enabling environment.

    But the Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Prof Garba Umar Dambatta, who spoke on: Broadband Penetration in Nigeria-Way Forward at the yearly Telecoms Executives and Regulator Forum (TERF) organised by the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) in Lagos at the weekend, said government would keep playing the role of an interventionist in the broadband sector to ensure that coverage is achieved across the country.

    According to him, the country currently has nine terabyte capacity of international bandwidth at the shores from MainOne, Glo One, Sat 3, African Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine communications cable, West African Cable System (WACS) and others

    ACE is a cable system along the west coast of Africa between France and South Africa managed by a consortium of 19 operators and administrations headed by Orange. The consortium agreement was signed on June 5, 2010. The cable was manufactured by Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) and was laid by ships from ASN and France Telecom Marine.

    The first phase of the 17,000 km-long fiber optic cable was put into service on December 15, 2012, with an official inauguration ceremony held on December 19, 2012 in Banjul, The Gambia.

    The ACE Cable will eventually connect 23 countries, either directly for coastal countries or through land links for landlocked countries, like Mali and Niger.

    ACE is the first international submarine cable to land in Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Sao Tome and Principe and Sierra Leone.

    He said: ‘’We have duplicated inter-city back haul infrastructure deployed by global system for Mobile Communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), and National Long Distance (NLD) operators.

    ‘’However, there are limitations and access gaps in metro fibre deployments to nodes and neighbourhood, and last mile connection to homes and businesses. This requires government intervention to breach this gap.’’

    According to Dambatta, the key objectives of this Next Generation Broadband Initiative of the Commission include achievement of high level of broadband penetration across all geo- political zones in the country; ensuring competitive and affordable pricing of high speed broadband internet; positioning Nigeria as a leading infrastructure hub in Africa; ensuring development of smart incentives to support industry players; and contributing to the growth and development of a knowledge economy in the country.

    Speaking on the key considerations for designing the industry structure for Nigeria, he said it was motivated by factors which include the presence of substantial inter-city back haul infrastructure covering trunk routes in the country. Leverage inter-city layer two transmission services and/or dark fibre capacity; limited fibre penetration and deployment in the metropolitan areas available at competitive prices; lack of end-to-end open access transmission services available on a widespread geographical basis; focus on bridging the infrastructure gap in the industry while ensuring minimal disruption to existing licences and licence conditions; and ensuring that optic fibre infrastructure is available on a fair, neutral and non-discriminatory basis to all operators at reasonable

  • NCC: Forex pangs stifle telecoms industry’s growth

    Regulator of the telecoms sector, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has lamented that telcos are facing challenges in accessing foreign exchange (forex) needed to expand capacity and help redefine end users’ experience on the network.

    According to the NCC, there are over 50,000 base transceiver stations (BTS) spread across the country. However, the actual number of BTS needed to provide optimal services to the over 170million population is 80,000, translating to an infrastructure gap of 30,000 BTS, estimated by industry experts at over N1.8 trillion.

    Its Executive Vice Chairman, Prof Umar Danbatta, in his inaugural lecture, titled: “Getting out of the Woods.  Diversifying Nigeria’s Economy through Telecommunications Sector”, delivered at Ahmadu Bello University, Kano (BUK), said the telecoms industry plays a crucial role in providing the requisite tools that support the diversification of the economy through improving the knowledge economy, using Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

    However, he said access to forex has become a major challenge to carriers in the country. “Telecoms operators are facing difficulties in accessing foreign exchange (forex) for the deployment of telecommunications services in the country.

    “In addressing the forex challenges, the Commission has engaged the management of the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) and to that effect, the CBN has agreed to include telecommunications as part of the CBN priority list for accessing forex. This has reduced the forex burden on the telecom operators,”he said.

    Speaking on the topic of the lecture, Danbatta said policies have been made over the years by successive governments to develop the non-oil sectors of the economy by initiating various supportive policies and incentives aimed at encouraging economic diversification with different degrees of success.

    According to him, these policies include protectionism (1960-1986) import substitution industrialisation aimed at expanding the industrial base, enhancing cash crops exports; trade liberalisation (1986 Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) era) aimed at deregulation, commercialisation, privatisation and liberalisation of the economy and export promotion aimed at facilitating the diversification of the economy through policy support to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to enhance exports.

    He said: “The liberalisation of the telecoms sector in 2001 has triggered a realistic opportunity of economic diversification, as the sector is adjudged to be one of the major support services needed to promote growth and modernisation of other sectors of the economy.

    “Telecoms breaks barriers, and as such, can act in its own right as an enabler to drive socio-economic transformation, growth, developments and modernisation across all sectors of the economy.”

    He said the telecoms sector has globally brought about radical changes in the way people interact, learn, work and transact commercial activities, adding that the sector also acts as the fulcrum and catalyst that propel the socio-economic transformation and growth of economies of nations.

    On pricing and competitiveness, Danbatta said: “Despite the huge mobile access and growing smartphone penetration, there are still challenges with reaching an acceptable price point for data services.

    “The NCC had to intervene with a temporary retail data price floor-this is however pending and awaiting the conduct of a comprehensive cost-based study.

    “There are also issues with stimulating demand for local content and affordability that are being addressed on a national scale. There is, therefore, a huge opportunity for infrastructure providers to offer cost-effective solutions and bridge the competiveness gap,” Danbatta said.

     

  • NCC warns telcos over SIM card pre-registration

    NCC warns telcos over SIM card pre-registration

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has warned telcos over improperly registered, unregistered and pre-registered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards. It said non-compliance with the rules  will attract severe consequences.

    Its Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta who gave the warning after meeting with all the telcos at NCC Headquarters, Abuja, said security reports from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has shown  non-compliance to the Telephone Subscribers Registration Regulation 2011 by the telcos.

    The Monday meeting was the highpoint of several meetings initiated by the Commission in the last two years designed to find solutions to the recurrent dangers improperly registered SIM cards constitute to the country.

    “We must safeguard the lives and properties of Nigerians who travel by road especially now that the festive seasons are around the corners and others who may be threatened or blackmailed via unregistered and improperly registered SIM cards,” Danbatta was quoted to have said in a statment endorsed by NCC Director, Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo.

    Danbatta lamented that even where SIM cards were registered, the captured data represents strange figures different from the user of such SIM card.

    He said the dangers are real and everybody will lose at the end, hence the need to tackle it  before the situation gets out of hands.

    While appreciating the cooperation of the telcos so far in the race to solve this problem, Danbatta said much is left to be done “hence this meeting”, for continuous engagement.  “Today’s meeting has the backing of the government which desires solutions as quickly as possible,” he said.

    A 12-man taskforce was constituted to address the menace. The taskforce will ensure that operators put in place a robust and active back end to check cases of improperly registered SIM cards before activation amnong others.

  • NCC intensifies fight against cyber rogues

    NCC intensifies fight against cyber rogues

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said it has intensified its onslaught against the threat posed by cybercriminals across the country.

    It said one of its strategies was the composition of the Industry Group (IWG) which holds forum to brainstorm ways to wage the war.

    Its Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Engr. Ubale Maska, who spoke during the second Workshop of IWG on electronic banking fraud at the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) Kano, lamented the staggering level of fraud in the industry.

    During his presentation titled: Electronic Banking Fraud in Nigeria:  Challenges and Way Forward”, a Deputy Director at the NCC, Engr. Bako Wakil, said it became necessary to intensify the campaign following the visit by the Deputy Governor of the CBN to management of the NCC to discuss the prevalence of banking fraud using telecoms infrastructure. This was necessitated, after petitions by deposit money banks to the apex bank complaining about the sophistication of the methods employed by cyber criminals via telecoms infrastructure in defrauding unsuspecting customers.

    On assumption of office, the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta reeled out his eight-point agenda for the industry, of which facilitating strategic collaboration and partnership with relevant stakeholders to foster ICT for sustainable economic development and social advancement became a priority for the commission.

    The IWG which was constituted early in the year, has as members, stakeholders from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Civil Society Organisations (CSO) as well as Value Added Service (VAS) providers.

    Engr. Wakil said the terms of reference for the committee was to look at the technicality and security of mobile banking; awareness issues in mobile banking; SIM card replacement processes; SIM card cloning as well as unsolicited text messages.

    The sub-committee which was set-up acknowledged that banking fraud is a growing national problem which fleeces innocent Nigerians of their earnings daily and came up with 21 recommendations categorised into short-term, mid-term and long term, with the aim of checkmating this growing threat to Nigerians.

     

     

     

     

  • Security breach: NCC summons telecom chief executives to Abuja

    Security breach: NCC summons telecom chief executives to Abuja

    The Nigerian Communications Commission ( NCC ) has invited chief executive officers of major telecommunications companies to an emergency meeting in Abuja over persistent breach of national security with pre-registered SIM cards.

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is calling the meeting, following incidents of the sale of pre-registered SIM cards by mobile network operators.

    The NCC has been under pressure to help stop  crimes committed with such SIM cards,  a source told The Nation last night.

    “As a first step under the stricter regime, NCC has summoned an emergency meeting of operators, on Monday, October 30th, when the executives of the big mobile network operators gather at the NCC headquarters in Abuja,”  the source added.

    “It is expected that they will be issued a riot act by NCC Executive Vice Chairman Prof.  Umar Garba Danbatta to rein in pre-registered SIM card sale across the country,”  the source, who spoke in confidence, noted.

    Invitations sent to the chief executive officers of the operators noted that the NCC “has continued to receive complaints of pre-registered and fraudulently registered SIMs being used for acts amounting to serious breach of national security, criminality and fraud”.

    The commission is believed to be bothered by  the grave security implications and the distortions that may occur in the 149 million SIM data base.  It is set to impose not only the MTN type sanctions but will now go after the executives of culprit operators, who might face prosecution.

    It was gathered that since the beginning of this year the NCC through its Compliance, Monitoring and Enforcement has vigorously pursued agents selling pre-registered SIM cards and imposed sanctions and fines on operators.

    Several joint raids with the security agents were carried out on pre-registered SIM cards selling points in Kano, Jigawa, Abuja, Lagos and others.

    Apart from the huge fine slammed on MTN in October 2015, NCC has continued to sanction the MNOs for poor compliance with SIM cards registration requirement.

    Documents sighted by The Nation showed that the commission last week slammed N11 million fine on Airtel, N10 million on 9Mobile, N10 million on MTN and N5.8 million on Glo for “improperly registered and fully activated Subscription Media (SIM cards)”.

    NCC late last year turned its SIM registration data base to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) towards building a national data base of biometrics that can serve security operations.

    The commission said it recognises the importance of having a complete data base of registered SIM cards to aid the work of the security outfits, hence the renewed effort to ensure they are properly registered.

  • Court dismisses suit seeking to compel MTN to pay N1.04trn fine

    A Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday rejected a suit seeking to compel MTN Nigeria Communications Limited to pay into the federation account N1.04trillion, being the fine that was imposed on it by the Nigerian Communications Commission  (NCC).

    Justice Babatunde Quadri, in a judgment yesterday, also refused to issue an order of mandamus to compel NCC to perform its statutory obligation under section 45(1) (a) (b) and (c) of the Nigeria Communications Act, by revoking MTN’s operation licence, pending when it paid the fine.

    The judgment was on a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/448/2016, filed by a member of the House of Representatives, Raphael Igbokwe and Emmanuel Njoku, who said the sued for themselves and on behalf of “Nigerians Against Exploitation By Telecommunications Operators.”

    The plaintiffs had, among others, queried the powers of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the Minister of Communications Technology to reduce the N1.04trillion fine imposed on MTN to N780billion.

    Defendants in the suit were the NCC, MTN, the AGF and the Minister of Communication Technology.

    Justice Quadri upheld preliminary objections filed by the defendants against the suit, to the effect that the suit was statute barred.

    He upheld their contention that 30 days had elapsed before the plaintiffs approached the court to challenge the fine they said was reduced since 2015.

    The judge said the plaintiffs did not fulfil necessary condition precedent to the filling of such suit, and that they failed to exhaust all other remedies that were provided in sections 86, 87 and 88 of the NCC Act and Order 34 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules.

    He said the plaintiffs ought to have applied for statement of reason from the NCC, request for a review of the decision of the commission within 30 days, and specify reasons why they wanted MTN to be compelled to pay the fine in full.

    Justice Quadri said it was only after the conditions were met that the plaintiffs could apply to court for a judicial review of the decision.

    The plaintiffs, through their lawyer, Okere Kingdom, prayed the court to, among other things, determine the following questions:

    “Whether or not the Hon. Minister of Justice/Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of Communications Technology have powers to amend, alter, adjust or vary any provisions of a delegated legislation or any other law validly made by the National Assembly, or any rules, regulations and orders validly made by any delegated legislature pursuant to an Act of the National Assembly.

    “Whether or not the National Assembly of Nigeria or any arm of the National Assembly has the constitutional powers to constitute an investigative panel and to summon any government official, to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the alteration, variation and reduction of the fine lawfully imposed on MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd by the NCC, which fine was imposed pursuant to delegated powers conferred on the NCC by an Act of the National Assembly.

    “Whether or not MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd has breached section 146(1) and (2) of the NCC Act and sections 19(1) and 20 (1) and (2) of the NCC (Registration of Telephone Subscribers Regulations) 2011, by intentionally and willfully failing to disconnect and register all unregistered subscribers on its network as stipulated in the Act.”

    Igbokwe stated, in an affidavit, that the House of Representatives had by a motion moved by Hon. Ehiozuwa Johnson captioned ‘need to investigate the payment made by MTN on the fine levied by the NCC’, constituted a committee to investigate issues, circumstances and motives behind “the huge reduction of the N1.04trillion fine imposed on MTN.

    He stated that controversy surrounding the reduction of the fine was a matter of public interest for which Nigerians deserved to know, adding that both Malami and Shittu refused to appear before the House of Representatives investigative committee, “thereby denying Nigerians opportunity to know the said circumstances and rationale leading to the reduction of the fine”.

  • Banks unwilling to disclose frauds, says NCC

    Banks unwilling to disclose frauds, says NCC

    There is an increase in banking frauds than banks are willing to disclose, Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), Professor Umaru Danbatta, has alleged.

    He spoke in Minna while presenting a paper titled ’promoting regulatory framework for safety and security on the internet’ at the North Central Zonal Internet Governance Forum.

    According to him, banks are unwilling to discuss frauds among them due to fear of liquidation and loss of customer.

    “The banks do not report many frauds because of liquidation problems. They are scared that their customers will leave if they report such incidences.

    “These banks feel that the customers will not have confidence in them anymore,” he stressed.

    Danbatta, however, said non-disclosure by the banks is militating against the statistics towards ensuring cyber security.

    He pointed out only collaboration and cooperation between private and public organisations will build the capacity of cyber security policies across the nation.

    Chairperson of the Nigeria Internet Governance Forum, Mrs. Mary Uduma, called for adequate sensitisation on cyber security and hate speeches.

    She added hate speeches can destroy a community, stating laws against hate speech need to be strengthened for effective coordination.

    Coordinator of the Hate Speech Project, Isah Garba, said that its monitoring project revealed the nation recorded 6,258 hate speeches in 2016.

    Of the hate speeches, he said 2,603 were of religious contents, 421 were political, 2, 449 ethnic-based, 283 Biafra, 134 on farmer herders and 118 on bye elections.