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Tag: NCC

  • Nigeria ranks 3rd in global internet crimes – NCC

    Nigeria ranks 3rd in global internet crimes – NCC

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said on Tuesday Nigeria currently ranks third globally in cyber related crimes behind the United Kingdom and United States.

    NCC’s Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Umar Danbatta, disclosed this at the ongoing 2017 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Lagos.

    The conference theme is: “African Business: Penetrating through Institution Building.”

    Danbatta, at a breakout session with the sub-theme: “The Business of Cyber Law, Internet Policy and Privacy Rights,” moderated by a former NBA president, Mr. Augustine Alegeh (SAN), said the number of internet users in Nigeria has hit 91.6 million.

    He said: “About N127 billion was the estimated loss to cyber-crime in Nigeria in 2015; Nigeria ranks third in global internet crimes behind the UK and U.S.

    “A critical factor militating against Africa’s economic resurgence is the weakness of its institutions.

    “Nigeria ranks 169 out of 199 on the World Bank’s ease of doing business rankings. We are in a middle of a revolution and the rise of what we call the networked society.

    “The NCC stipulates the laws of engagement that will make the cyberspace safe and ensure the confidence as well as the safety of the cyberspace.

    “There are benefits and risks of the use of cyberspace and both should be properly managed.”

    NAN

  • NCC: Corporate governance code ‘ll stop telcos mortality

    The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Danbatta, has lauded the new Code of Corporate Governance for the telecoms industry recently activated by the Commission. He assured that it would soon usher in a crop of fresh and visionary leaders in the industry.

    Fielding questions from newsmen at the side line of a workshop organised in Lagos to sensitise stakeholders on the new code, the NCC boss, however, noted that the commission was not being reactive to the recent happenings in the industry with the activation of the fresh regulation.

    The NCC, under his leadership, has introduced the mandatory code of corporate governance for the telecommunications industry, which was hitherto voluntary.

    “The corporate governance code had come before the recent happenings in the industry, meaning, we do not react to situations in the sector on ad hoc basis.  However, where we have to come in to stave off undesired developments in the sector we don’t hesitate to do so. But more than that we also put proactive steps in place in order to ensure that the sector remains stable and resilient,” he explained.

    Citing the example of the recent intervention of the commission to save 9Mobile from total collapse, Danbatta, said: “We intervened jointly with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), consistent with an item of our eight-point agenda, strategic collaboration and partnership.”

    He further stressed that with the activation of the new code, the NCC is trying to ensure an enduring corporate instructional structure in place, with a view to sustaining stability in telecoms sector.

    “We are in the process of trying to ensure we have transformational leadership in the telecoms sector; leaders that will introduce new ideas, new ways of work, with it-cannot- be-business-as-usual mentality, leadership that has vision and a compelling narrative about the future for all stakeholders in the industry. Unless and until we do this, we will not be able to sustain the contribution of the sector to GDP, which currently stands at about 9.8 per cent.

    “We are mindful of what we have to do to sustain this resilience as indicated by all the figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), statistics which confirm the resilience and stability of the sector. That’s why we are taking these measures, measures that any regulator would proactively take to protect the industry,” he said.

  • Telecoms sector FDI hits $68b, says NCC

    Telecoms sector FDI hits $68b, says NCC

    The telecoms sector has attracted
    $68billion   to the economy in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday in Lagos.

    Besides, the sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has increased to 9.8 per cent and it has allowed other sectors to floursih.

     

    NCC Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Prof Umar Dambatta who spoke during a seinsitisation workshop on code of corporate governance for the telecosm industry at teh Derenassance Hotel, Ikeja, said these acheivements were accomplished in spite of the crushing recession ravaging the economy.

     

  • NCC: Telecoms sector FDI hits $68 billion

    NCC: Telecoms sector FDI hits $68 billion

    • Regulator begins health check of telcos

    • Commission enforces Corporate Governance Code

    Its Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Prof Umar Dambatta who spoke during a seinsitisation workshop on code of corporate governance for the telecosm industry at teh Derenassance Hotel, Ikeja, said these acheivements were accomplished in spite of the crushing recession ravaging the economy.

    Dambatta spoke on: Sustaining the Telecoms Industry as a Leverage for the Next Economy.

    He said: “The sector continues to contribute incrementally to the GDP of the nation which currently stands at 9.8 per cent notwithstanding the impact of recession on investment flows. That is against 8.5 per cent in 2015 and less than 1.00 per cent in 2001. Factoring in direct and indirect investment in the telecoms sector over the last 16 years, it has pulled in investment of over $68billion and when the GDP impact of these local and FDI are factored in, the contribution of the sector would even be higher than stated.”

    Also speaking, the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Managment at NCC, Mr Sunday Dare, said the regulator has taken proactive step to avert business collapse in the sector by undertaking to conduct financial and technical health check on the telcos.

    He said the exercise will not only enhance business sustainability but will also put closure to issues arising from from poor quality of service (QoS). According to him, a team of chartered accountants will go through the books of the telcos to ascertain their financial fitness while technical experts will also examine the technical well being of the telcos. He said the technical audit will establish the technical capacity of the telcos to carry the traffic on their networks, adding that recommendations will be made when and where necessary for capacity expansion.

    Prof Dambatta said the sector has been showing sterling performance due to quality of regulatory oversight provided by the Commission, stressing that the Code of Corporate Governance for Telecoms Sector has passed through the phase of voluntary compliance to mandatory phase.

    “The code of corporate governance for telecoms industry was developed to raise the standard of leadership role as drivers of the overall growth of the national economy.

    “Sustaining improvement in standard of international best practices will ensure that the sector is strongly positioned to play the facilitator or ensure that the sector enabler role which has come to represent in the contemporary world economic ecosystem. As technology trends emerge to disrupt traditional economic order the sector must order, the sector must must leverage strength  to provide the backbone needed to ride the storm of the disruption on that evolution.

    “All sectors of every national economy have become dependencies on telecommunications and ICT, and failure in the sector would have far reaching negative ramification and thus be the onus is on the sector build capacity to lead effectively,” Prof Dambatta explained.

    He lamented that in the last 16 years of the telecoms revolution, many operators have fallen by the way side largely owing to internal management issues than from technical challenges. He said as the industry migrates more towards knowledge economy and higher level economic infrastructure dependence on internet and ICT support services, it would no longer be desirable for such collapses to occur hence the need to sensitise operators on the observed poor corporate governance practices which had contributed to failures in the past.

    “We have as an industry developed this code of corporate governance which has since late 2016 become mandatory with a regime of compliance monitoring instituted and enforcement  framework developed. This sensitisation workshop is part of the commission’s standard consultative approach aimed at securing wholesome industry buy-in.

    “We are already in the era of internet of things (IoT) where every sector will depend on telecoms and It infrastructure to maximally operate.

     

    The full impact of the collective coolaborative partnership of the industry operators through buy-in of the governance principles espoused in the code will simultaneously enhance foru elements of my eight point agenda tin the following areas:

    Promotion of ICT innovation and investment, as the sector becomes more investment attractive; facilitation of strategic collaboration and partnership as there will be greater synergy in the sector which will build trust and lead to greater opportunity for self-regulation; promotion of fair competition and inclusive growth, enhancing suatainability; and regulatory excellence and operational efficiency putting the industry in a leading position to pull the country in the economic growth direction it is presently being redirected.

    We are at the threshold of the next telecoms revolution in Nigeria and we must position to avoid the consequent disruption that will follow it.

    The strategic objective being to entrench the Code as operational baseline frowm which entities can aspire to higher performance standards.

     

  • NCC to service providers: block pre-registered sim cards

    The Nigerian Telecommunications Commission (NCC) has urged mobile telecommunications firms to block pre-registered sim cards.

    The telecoms regulatory body spoke at its  87th consumer outreach  in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

    NCC Deputy Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, Alhjaji Ismail Adedigba, who chaired the forum, frowned at some of the issues complained about, especially the the existence of pre-registered sim cards, which are believed to be what criminals, especially kidnappers, armed robbers and fraudsters are using to perpetuate crime across the country.

    Adedigba said: ”I expected to hear that all sim cards are registered. But I have issues with Service Providers here, how did we get these pre-registered Sims to start with?

    “I think your networks should have the total number of available lines and the total number of subscribers in your database, and as such you should be able to know which Sims age registered and those that are not registered and automatically deactivate those that are pre-registered and those that are not properly registered.

    “But a situation where are still having pre-registered sim cards with the advancement in technology today, is a surprise to me, and note that a severe punishment awaits any provider whose network is still carrying pre-registered sim cards.”

    The Deputy Director also urged the service providers to step up their services to save some of the frustrations their consumers ate going through because of poor service delivery.

    In an interview with reporters, he reiterated that telecoms mast safe and constitute no health hazard to human beings.

    According to him, there is presently no known cancer case or any other health challenge traceable to telecommunication masts and asked the public to save themself the fear that the electro magnate radiation from the network equipment causes skin cancer or any other type of disease.

    He said: “As a today, there is no health implication, according to the World Health Organization(WHO). So there is no health research and well-known health implication of mast as at today. You should not prevent the service provider from deploying masts. The more masts we have, the better quality service we have.

    “At the NCC, we believe consumer is the king in the palace market. Therefore, the consumer must accord basic rights such as rights to be heard, right to be educated, right to redress as well as right to safety.”

    The Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, Alhaji Abdullahi Maikano, said  the programme was meant to bring  the consumers, telecom  service providers and the NCC together to discuss ways they could assist the consumer have value for their money through effective service delivery.

    Maikano said: “The event is one of the initiatives of Nigerian Communications Commission to bring together Telecom Consumers in the urban areas with the Network Operators and the Regulator (NCC) to discuss, proffer solutions to consumer related issues and ensure they have value for money through effective service delivery.”with  the theme: “information and education as a catalyst for consumer protection”.

    Stakeholders at the meeting spared no time in outlining and expressing their various frustrations in the Services being provided by the networks providers in the country describing it as below standard and fraudulent.

    The four major service providers, The MTN, Globacom, Airtel and 9mobile (formerly Etisalat) were present at the forum, where subscribers gave them knocks for  poor network connectivity, allotment of one line to more than one subscriber at the same time, to sending of unsubscribed messages/ imposing of charges on unsubscribed messages, activation of pre-registered sim cards among others.

    Each of the service providers took turn to apologise to the subscribers and pledged to turn new leaf.

  • NCC withdraws approval for Glo overload promotions

    NCC withdraws approval for Glo overload promotions

    The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has ordered the management of Globacom Ltd to immediately suspend the implementation of the Glo Overload Promotion from its network.

    The regulatory body said the suspension became necessary given the fact that Globacom Nigeria Limited has been implementing the regulatory approval in breach.

    The Commission in a letter signed by the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management, Mr Sunday Dare and Director Consumer Affairs, Abdullahi Maikano on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Professor, Umar Garba Danbatta drew the attention of Globacom management to the recent media campaign on the “Glo Free Data Offer”.

    The NCC letter dated 10th August 2017 with reference number NCC/Glo/ F76/vol/ 13/2017, said the action of the telecom company was “a clear departure from the terms and condition of the approval given for the “Glo Overload Promotion”.

    The letter which was addressed to the Chief Executive Officer of Globacom reads: ” please refer to the Commission’s letter of 14th March, 2017 conveying approval for your Glo Overload Promotion.

    “It has however come to our notice that Globacom Nig Ltd has been implementing the above regulatory approval in breach especially given your recent media campaign on the “Glo Free Data Offer”, a clear departure from the terms and condition of the approval given for the Glo Overload Promotion.

    “Consequent upon the above, you are hereby directed to suspend implementation of the Glo Overload Promotion from your network with immediate effect.”

    The regulatory body further invited the management of Globacom to a meeting on the issue against Thursday 17, August.

  • ISPs critical to attainment of NBP, says NCC

    ISPs critical to attainment of NBP, says NCC

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have significant roles to play in the achievement of the Federal Government’s  plans for National Broadband. Its Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management, Sunday Dare,  spoke at a stakeholders’ forum on ISPs in Lagos. He said the dwindling fortunes of the subsector remained unacceptable to the Commission.

    According to the NCC, 90 per cent of licencees in that subsector have gone into extinction while there are no fresh applicants to play in the subsector either.

    “We strongly believe that ISPs have critical roles to play in the attainment of national broadband growth objectives and must therefore not be left to die out.

    “As we all know, the larger telecoms industry (of which the ISPs are integral part) is beset with numerous challenges. Issues with power, accessibility to foreign exchange, multiple taxation/regulation, infrastructure, vandalisation as well as high cost and long delays in obtaining rights of way (RoW) and permits not only degrade the quality of services provided by our licencees, they also negatively affect the attainment of critical national objectives on the speedy roll-out of broadband networks to power socio-economic growth and the enhancement of our industry’s contribution to national GDP.

    “To overcome these challenges, the commission has been very actively engaging with stakeholders and reaching sustainable resolutions for the overall benefit of all Nigerians.For instance, we recently successfully engaged the CBN to secure priority access to foreign exchange for operators. We are also working closely with all relevant stakeholders to harmonise RoW approval frameworks as well as achieving greater uniformity in infrastructure authorisations and permit regimes across the 36 states of the federation and the FCT.

    The commission is nonetheless keenly aware that different sectors of our industry are differently impacted by the issues mentioned above. We are aware for instance, the viability of ISPs is particularly challenged by factors such as the availability of cheap/ubiquitous mobile internet access, bandwidth costs, vertical integration of mobile network operators as well as growing uptake of leased line services by corporates among others. Also noteworthy is the question of availability/effectiveness of local internet exchange points,” Dare said.

    To underscore the importance the Commission placed on internet access, he said the first item of the Commission’s eight point agenda is facilitation of broadband penetration through the provision and optimisation of access to and the use of affordable fixed and mobile broadband in Nigeria.

    He said some of the actions the Commission have taken in this direction include the licensing of five Infracos to deploy broadband infrastructure to the rest of the country following the successful licensing of Lagos and Northcentral zones, aggressive pursuit of broadband penetration first in the major cities across Nigeria and subsequently, in underserved and unserved areas and making internet access more affordable through cost-based intervention. “We are currently conducting a cost study on retail data tariffs following the determination of price bands for wholesale/leased line services in consultation with the industry,” Dare said.

  • NCC: 90% of Nigerian ISPs dead

    NCC: 90% of Nigerian ISPs dead

    About 90 per cent of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Nigeria are dead, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has said.

    Its Director, Licensing and Authorisation,  Ms Funlola Akiode who spoke yesterday in Lagos during a Stakeholders’ Forum on ISPs at Lagos Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Ikeja, lamented that only 10 per cent of the 103 licensed ISPs in the country has approached the regulator for licence renewal.

    She said: “The world is a global village and a necessary tool for this process is access to information of which the internet is a key element. Despite the fact that over 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population is active on mobile subscribers, the digital divide is still very wide especially as it regards rural dwellers.

    “It may interest you to know that Nigeria however trends to the lowest when measured in accordance with population rate. For instance, the penetration rate of 48.4 million (2016) when compared to Nigeria’s population is just 0.3 or 34 per cent. While our population is increasing in a geometric progression, the internet usage and penetration rates are increasing in arithmetic progression.”

    She lamented that the Commission has witnessed a tremendous decline in the number of applications for ISP licences while the renewal rate of this licence category too has dropped drastically.

    “In the past five years, the Commission has licenced a total number of 103 ISPs nationwide but about 10 per cent has applied for renewal of the licence. That is of the reasons why we are here today, to find out if and why about 90 per cent of our ISPs are out of business and why some ISPs have not rolled out services in accordance with the conditions of their licences,” Ms. Akiode said.

    According to her, as a responsive regulator, the sustainability of ISPs in the telecoms business is the  primary interest of the Commisison, adding however that the regulator is not unmindful of the difficult operating environment, the stifling competition from a variety of players, dearth of funding and so on.

    In his welcome address, the Executive Vice Chairman, Prof Garba Dambatta said the larger telecom industry of which ISPs are integral part, is beset with numerous challenges.

    Represented by the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management, Sunday Dare, he lamented that issues with power, accessibility of forex, multiple taxation/regulation, infrastructure, vandalism as well as high costs and long delays in obtaining right of way and permits not only degrade the quality of services provided by the licencees, they also negatively affect critical the attainment of critical national objectives on the speedy roll-out of broadband networks to power socio-economic growth and the enhancement of the country’s contribution to national gross domestic product (GDP).

    “The viability of ISPs is particularly challenged by factors such as the availability of cheap/ubiquitous mobile internet access, bandwidth costs, vertical integration of mobile network operators as well as the growing uptake of leased line services by operators among others. Also noteworthy is the question of availability/effectiveness of local internet exchange point.

    “We believe the ISPs have a critical role to play in the attainment of national broadband growth objectives and must therefore not be left to die out,” he said.

  • Porting activities reduce to 32,873 in June, says NCC

    Porting activities reduce to 32,873 in June, says NCC

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said activities on the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) by telecommunications operators reduced in June to 32,873 from 39,535 in May, showing a decrease of 6,662.

    The regulatory body made this known in its “Incoming and Outgoing Porting Activities of Mobile Network Operators Report’’ posted on its website.

    NCC said in the report that 39,535 subscribers ported within the networks in May.

    The commission said that of the 32,873 porting activities in June, 16,714 were “Incoming Porting Activities”, while 16,159 were “Outgoing Porting Activities”.

    It said that in the outgoing table, 5,030 subscribers moved from MTN Nigeria to other networks through Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in June.

    Those that left MTN’s network decreased by 1,537 as against 6,567 customers that dropped the network in May.

    NCC said that 4,531 customers moved from Airtel Nigeria; showing a decrease of 2,009 subscribers against 6,540 that left the service provider in May.

    Also, 4,902 subscribers moved from Globacom Nigeria in June, representing an increase of 116 customers that left the network, as against 4,789 that left in May.

    It said that 1,696 customers of Etisalat Nigeria, now 9mobile, ported to other networks within the same period, a decrease of 130, when compared with 1,826 users that left in May.

    In the incoming table, 9mobile led with an additional 12,498 customers joining its network in June.

    Airtel Nigeria came second on the gainers’ list with 2,020 subscribers; 1,445 subscribers moved to MTN Nigeria, while Globacom Nigeria got 751 customers.

    The report shows that in spite of the loan repay challenge faced by Etisalat Nigeria (now 9mobile), Nigerian telecommunications users still have confidence in the network, hence, moving to its services.

  • Intervention to save Etisalat necessary – NCC

    Intervention to save Etisalat necessary – NCC

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said on Wednesday it aligned with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to protect the interest of investors, subscribers and employees of Etisalat (now 9Mobile) in order to ensure amicable resolution of this crisis between the telecommunication firm and a consortium of 13 banks.

    The NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, disclosed this when he received in audience the Chief Executive of 9Mobile, Mr. Boye Olusanya, and Vice-President, Regulatory Affairs at the NCC, Mr. Ibrahim Dikko, in his office in Abuja.

    Danbatta said: “The over $2billion Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), by Mubadala of United Arab Emirates (UAE) was hanging, while 20million subscribers and over 2,000 workers would have been affected if we did not intervene in the matter with a view to finding an amicable resolution.”

    In a statement signed by NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo, Prof. Danbatta maintained that “resolving the issue was also partly to forestall any form of disincentive to the FDI.”

    According to him, if the company had gone under, this would have created a social problem especially with the job of over 2,000 Nigerians on the line.

    He added that such situation was capable of creating security challenges for the country.

    Prof. Danbatta said NCC collaborated with CBN to avert a looming economic disaster adding “we want to see a viable and thriving 9Mobile and we want to cooperate with you so that things can move seamlessly and be successful.”

    He assured the 9mobile team of the Commission’s cooperation in the efforts to grow its network.