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Tag: NCC

  • $1.72bn debt: NCC, CBN halt Etisalat’s takeover

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)  have secured a reprieve for Etisalat on the $1.72 billion  (N541.8 billion) loan crisis facing the company.

    The Director of Public Affairs of NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, said in a statement on Saturday in Lagos, that the reprieve came following a meeting convened by CBN and NCC to find a quick resolution to the crisis.

    ”Friday’s meeting succeeded in halting the attempt by Etisalat’s creditors at bringing it under any form of takeover,” Ojobo said.

    ”Receivership was completely taken off the table in a meeting that was very productive and constructive.

    ”The meeting, which held at the CBN office in Lagos, had the consortium of banks being owed and Etisalat in attendance.

    ”The banks and the mobile network operator agreed to concrete actions that will bring all parties closest to a resolution.”

    He said CBN and NCC were able to secure for Etisalat the necessary “oxygen” to enable it continue to meet urgent operational expenses.

    Ojobo said the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who chaired the meeting, was firm in declaring what needed to be done by both parties towards a quick resolution.

    He said the Commission equally made it clear that everything necessary must be done to protect the 23 million Etisalat subscribers.

    The NCC spokesman said there was also the need to protect the telecom industry to prevent potential investors from developing cold feet.

    According to him, effort has been made to ensure that Etisalat remains in business while the consortium of banks meet their obligations to their customers.

    ”A meeting will hold on March 16 to agree on a payment restructuring path going forward.

    ”The NCC will lead the CBN in a possible crucial meeting with Etisalat’s shareholders anytime soon,” he said.

    A consortium of banks  on March 8 attempted to take over Etisalat over the  debt.

    Etisalat is Nigeria’s fourth largest telecommunications operator with about 23 million subscribers as at January this year.

    The company commenced operation in Nigeria in 2009.

    NAN

     

  • $1.2b debt: NCC, CBN secure reprieve for Etisalat

    $1.2b debt: NCC, CBN secure reprieve for Etisalat

    Reprieve came for Mobile Network Operator (MNO), Etisalat yesterday following a meeting convened by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and telecom sector regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to find a quick resolution to the loan default crisis facing the company.

    The meeting succeeded in halting the attempt by Etisalat’s creditors at bringing it under any form of take over. Receivership was completely taken off the table in a meeting that was very productive and constructive.

    According to a statement endorsed by Director, Public Affairs at the NCC, Tony Ojobo, the meeting, which held at the CBN Lagos Office, had the consortium of banks being owed and Etisalat in attendance. The banks and the MNO agreed to concrete actions that will bring all parties closest to a resolution.

    The CBN and NCC were able to secure for Etisalat the necessary oxygen to enable it continue to meet urgent operational expenses.

    CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele who chaired the meeting, was firm in declaring what needed to be done by both parties towards a quick resolution. The NCC equally made it clear everything necessary must be done to protect the 23 million Etisalat subscribers and also protect the telecom industry to prevent potential investors from developing cold feet.

    Meanwhile, in a renewed effort to ensure that Etisalat remains in business while the consortium of banks meet their obligations to their customers, a meeting will hold on March 16 to agree on a payment restructuring path going forward.

    The NCC will lead the CBN in a possible crucial meeting with Etisalat’s shareholders anytime soon.

  • CBN, NCC move to intervene in Etisalat loan issue

    CBN, NCC move to intervene in Etisalat loan issue

    The Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) on Thursday said the Commission and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had moved to intervene in the Etisalat loan issue.

    The Director of Public Affairs of NCC, Mr Tony Ojobo said this in a statement issued in Abuja.

    “After a meeting on Thursday afternoon in Abuja between the Executive Vice Chairman of  NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta and the CBN Governor,  Mr Godwin Emefiele and his team, a decision was reached to intervene in the loan issue between Etisalat Nigeria and a consortium of commercial banks.

    “The meeting which was held at the CBN in Abuja was convened by the financial regulator at the instance of NCC and the telecom regulator to further deliberate on how best to stop the attempt by the banks to take over Etisalat.

    “At the end of the meeting, the CBN agreed to invite Etisalat management and the banks to a meeting tomorrow, Friday, toward finding an amicable resolution,’’ he said.

    Ojobo said that the NCC as a regulator of the telecom industry had moved quickly to intervene earlier in the week by reaching out to the CBN because it was convinced of the negative impact such takeover move would have on the industry.

    He added that NCC was worried about the fate of the over 20 million Etisalat subscribers and the wrong signals this might send to potential investors in the Telecom industry.

    It was reported that on March 8, Etisalat was had been taken over by three banks because of its N541.8 billion debt.

    However, NAN correspondent spoke with the Head of Public Relations, Etisalat Nigeria, Ms Oluseyi Osuntedo, dispelled the talk that banks had taken over the company.

    Osuntedo NAN in Lagos that discussions were still ongoing between the banks and the company.

    “Discussions are going on; nobody is taking up the company.

    “It is not true that we are being picketed, whoever gave the information is not telling the truth,” she said.

    A consortium of some foreign and Nigerian banks, including Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank and Zenith Bank, have been having a running battle with the mobile telephone operator, over a loan facility totalling 1.72 billion dollars (about N541.8 billion) obtained in 2015.

    The banks said their attempt to recover the loan by all means, was fuelled by the pressure from the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), demanding immediate cut down on the rate of their non-performing loans.
    .
    NCC appears not to be favourably disposed to the takeover proposal as it believed that Etisalat is not only a viable going concern, but also willing and able to negotiate the servicing of its loans.

    Etisalat is Nigeria’s fourth largest telecoms operator with about 21 million subscribers as at January 2017, according to the NCC.

    It commenced business in Nigeria in 2009. (NAN)

  • NAICOM, NCC to deepen insurance penetration

    NAICOM, NCC to deepen insurance penetration

    The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday vowed to reinstate the sales of insurance through platforms of telecommunications firms.

    Head, Corporate Affairs NAICOM, Rasaaq Salami said the move will enable the Commission license telcos and ensure effective distribution channels for sale of insurance products.

    According to him, the agreement was reached yesterday when the Commissioner for Insurance, Mohammed Kari, led the management of NAICOM to the Headquarters of the NCC in Abuja.

    He said NAICOM team was received by the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) and Chief Executive of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, noting that the NCC at the meeting, endorsed the collaboration between insurance firms and telcos in the sale of insurance products.

  • NCC warns mobile operators over drop calls

    NCC warns mobile operators over drop calls

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has read the riot act to Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) over the poor quality of service recorded on their networks, saying the downward trend cannot be allowed to continue.

    A source privy to the development revealed that the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta handed down the warning to the MNOs and infrastructure providers at a meeting at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja yesterday.

    He was said to have noted that Quality of Service (QoS) had worsened over time with monitoring reports from November last year to January showing deterioration in QoS and failure of operators to meet benchmarks.

    The source who does not want to be identified because he is not the NCC official spokesperson quoted Prof Danbatta as saying: “We have anecdotal complaints from consumers that they are experiencing poor quality calls, while this is anecdotal, our technical findings also showed deteriorating quality. So for the first time, there is a convergence between what consumers are saying and what our technical people are finding out. “So the QoS is really bad in the period from November last year up till now.”

    Buoyed by its technical findings and the series of complaints from consumers, the NCC summoned the mobile network operators and their infrastructure providers to the meeting at which the Executive Vice Chairman warned that “it is not something we can allow to continue.”

    According to the source, the NCC’s chief stressed that the regulator will continue to perform its role in the sector while ensuring that consumers are protected especially in view of the Commission’s declaration of 2017 as the Year of the Consumer.

    The NCC will henceforth, periodically publish information on the quality of service offered by MNOs as part of measures to ensure consumers are not short-changed and to empower the consumer with information regarding  which operator to trust.

    For operators, the technical report will provide the opportunity to know each other’s performances and enhance competition.

    Telecoms consumers in Nigeria had complained about call seizures, drop calls, poor voice quality, voice freeze, wrong billing and other operators’ shortcomings that had caught the attention of the regulator.

    MNOs however reportedly asked NCC to assist them in dealing with the challenges militating against their ability to deliver acceptable quality of service with the leading problem being damage to fiber optics cables better known as fiber cut in the industry.

    Other problems identified by the operators at the meeting are the non-availability of foreign exchange to buy the needed hardware for expansion and network maintenance, illegal and arbitrary shut down of towers by various agencies and state governments. Others are  multiple taxation and lack of approval for building new base stations as well as challenges of power supply.

  • Stable regulation vital to telecoms sector’s growth, says NCC chief

    THE Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Danbatta has identified stable, predictable and independent regulatory environment as the key success factors in Nigeria’s telecoms industry.

    Speaking in Barcelona, Spain, as a panelist on: Creating incentives for investment at the high-profile Ministerial Programme of Mobile World Congress, he said the progress recorded under the eight- point agenda unveiled under his administration is a case in point.

    He said under the agenda, broadband penetration has grown from less than 10 per cent to 21 per cent, while broadband internet penetration has moved from 20 per cent to 40 per cent. He said it is an indication that the 30 per cent target growth in broadband next year is no longer a tall order.

    The NCC chief told the audience which included Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu and other ministers, regulators, vendors, service providers and experts from various countries, that the inclusion of operational efficiency and regulatory excellence as an important item of the agenda.

    He said it is a strategic design, which takes into account, international best standards in all areas of telecom regulation.

    He said remarkable progress has been recorded in the area of spectrum management through transparent spectrum auctions, one of which was 2.6 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum won by MTN on which it has deployed broadband LTE services.

    Another service provider, Glo has also deployed similar services, resulting in percentage growth in broadband, and internet penetration within a short period.

    “We have the capacity within the Commission, to measure key performance indicators (KPIs) for all operators and the entire length and breadth of the country; we are able to say with certainty where these indicators are not being met with the standards set by the NCC.

    “We have identified the operators that are not meeting these standards and we have told them that they must meet up  because we are concerned that unless there is improvement in quality of service, Nigerians will not be able to enjoy services that they desire,” he said.

    Danbatta said it was for this reason that the Commission willflag off  a campaign tagged: “2017: Year of the Telecom Consumer in Nigeria” to accentuate another provision in the agenda which is to protect and empower the consumer.

    This year’s mobile congress, with the theme, ‘The Next Element’, had more than 108,000 people in attendance with over 2,300 firms exhibiting products ranging from new handsets, new apps, virtual realities, connected cars, to backend solutions.

  • NCC declares state of emergency in telecoms sector over QoS

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has declared a state of emergency in the telecoms sector due to the degenerating Quality of Service (QoS) by Mobile Network Operators and other service providers in the sector.

    A statement issued by the NCC Director of Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo, said the Executive Vice Chairman of the commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, made the declaration on Monday in Abuja.

    According to the statement, Danbatta spoke at an interactive session with the mobile network operators and the management of NCC on Monday.

    He said the NCC had declared 2017 as the year of the consumer, adding that all hands should be on deck for consumers to enjoy high quality of service.

    The NCC chief said the consumers had to be treated with dignity, stressing that the commission’s eight-point agenda  had put the consumers first.

    He explained that NCC had put measures in place to check and monitor quality of service on various networks.

    “And we have sent this report to our taskforce on QoS and have been interacting with government at different levels as part of the measures to deal with the poor QoS,” he said.

    Danbatta admonished the operators and co-location service operators to provide suggestions on how to address the situation.

    He said that NCC had appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to make FOREX available to operators.

    He said the appeal to CBN was part of measures to cushion the situation and ameliorate the recurrent inaccessibility to foreign exchange by operators.

    NAN

  • Internet users decline to 91.2m in January – NCC

    Internet users decline to 91.2m in January – NCC

    The number of internet users in Nigeria’s telecommunications networks declined to 91, 274,446 in January, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said.

    The NCC made the disclosure in its Monthly Internet Subscribers Data for January 2017 on its website on Tuesday in Abuja.

    According to the data released, internet users dropped to 91,274,446 in January as against 91,880.032 users recorded in December 2016, showing a decline of 605,586.

    The data also showed that the GSM service providers lost 605,586 internet customers after recording 91, 274,446 in January as against 91,880,032 users in December 2016.

    The data revealed that MTN had 31,015.45 subscribers browsing the internet on its network in the month of January.

    It explained that MTN recorded a drop of 737, 964 internet subscribers in January after recording 31,753.369 in December 2016.

    Airtel had 19,618.485 internet users in January, adding 254, 94 customers to its December record of 19,363.545.

    In Etisalat, the data showed 13,564.284 customers who browsed the internet in January revealing a decrease of 188.656 users against the 13,752.940 users recorded in December 2016.

    The data showed that Globacom had 27,076,272 customers browsing the internet on its network in January.

    This amounted to an increase of 66,094 users from the 27,010.178 users of the internet on the network in December 2016. (NAN)

  • ‘NCC ‘ll promote mass literacy’

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has assured the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-formal Education (NMEC) of its continued support for mass literacy in the country.

    Its Executive Vice Chairman, Prof Garba Dambatta, who gave the commitment during the visit of NMEC’s Executive Secretary, Prof Abba Abubakar Haladu, said the NCC was already intervening in the advancing the cause of education in the country.

    Represented by the Executive Commissioner (Technical Services) at NCC, Engr. Ubale Maska, the EVC said the intervention include the Advanced Digital Awareness for Tertiary Institutions (ADAPTI) and Digital Awareness Programme (DAP) among others.

    Earlier on, Prof Haladu had  sought the intervention of the NCC in the promotion of literacy in the country.

    “Education is the bedrock of development because it assists in the improvement of the lives of the people through the provision of relevant skills, competences and knowledge which enable beneficiaries to take appropriate decision about their lives and families,” a statement endorsed by Director, Public Affairs at NCC, Tony Ojobo quoted the NMEC chief as saying.

    He said if quality education is provided to the citizenry, the impact will be obvious and society would benefit; it will fuel modernity, knowledge based economy and development.

    He listed dangers of illiteracy to include but not limited to ill-health, population explosion, rural-urban drift, gang influence, ignorance, poverty and the culture of silence over sensitive matters among others.

    He acknowledged however, that progress has been made in literacy education in the country but there is more to be done.

    “There are estimated over 60million adult and youth illiterates and 11.5million out of school children. This is a major challenge to the country,” he said.

    In this connection, Prof. Haladu enlisted the collaboration of NCC to correct the imbalance. Some of the areas the NCC could assist include: strengthening of NMEC with the necessary ICT facilities such as internet access, desktop computers, inverter, solar panels and batteries for uninterrupted power supply for the ICT facilities.

    He also sought equipment for 13 community learning centres constructed by NMEC with solar panels, inverter, unlimited internet access, desktop computers, including tables and chairs.  The community learning centres are located Edo, Rivers, Plateau, Katsina, Kano, Bauchi, Taraba, Imo, Anambra, Oyo, Ekiti, Kwara and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    He also wants the NCC to equip Kano Training and Documentation Centre and the Minna Resource Centre with desktop computers, unlimited internet access, solar panels, inverters, batteries and tables/chairs.

  • MTN to NCC: give us more spectrums

    THE MTN Group has requested for more spectrums from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to enable it offer more services to its customers in the country.

    The telecoms giant also wants the NCC to release the Visafone’s spectrum, the only surviving Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operator in the country to it, having acquired its equity about two years ago.

    Its Group Chairman/Chief Executive, Mr. Phuthuma Nhleko, who made the demands when he led a high level delegation to the NCC Headquarters in Abuja, also expressed faith in the nation’s economy despite the telco’s spat with the regulator over subscriber identity module (SIM) card registration infractions.

    Nhleko, who is scheduled to step down as Group Chairman in March, said MTN Group has invested over $16billion into the Nigerian operations. “We have a very long way to go and so ask for spectrum, which is the oxygen and life blood to navigate this long and tedious investment journey because without spectrum, the sector will suffocate,” he told the NCC Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Prof Garba Danbatta.

    He specifically asked for more spectrum allocation and the release of Visafone’s spectrum, whose equity shares MTN acquired in 2015.

    Nhleko, who was received by Prof Danbatta and top management staff of the Commission, said the Group was willing to invest more in the sector in the years to come.

    Responding to the request for spectrum, Dambatta said: “We are open to further discussion on the areas of spectrum assignment. Just put across your request for spectrum and we will check for its availability.”

    Speaking on the challenges that arose from the N330b fine imposed on it by the regulator last year, he said: “We had challenges in the past, during the period of the fine, and we are grateful for the role the Commission played towards an amicable resolution.”

    He also canvassed for a more level playing field “despite being a dominant player”.

    He said MTN has made its mark in voice and data services and that more services like mobile financial services are underway.

    A statement by Director, Public Affairs at NCC, Tony Ojobo, explained that Prof. Danbatta assured the delegation that the Commission would always play by the rules and support every operator within the ambits of the law.

    Dambatta said: “I like to state that our word is our covenant.  When we take decisions, we are concerned about the stability of the industry and there is no way we can guarantee it without considering the dominant status of MTN and its obligations and if the dominant status is becoming stringent, we are open to engagement, we will be guided by what is happening in the market, to ensure the growth and development of the sector.

    “The sector has contributed very well to the National Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and has shown remarkable resilience in this recession.”

    Danbatta said the NCC has made a request to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the need to relax its stringent fiscal policies towards the sector, especially its policy on foreign exchange that has asphyxiated businesses.

    “The CBN governor is favourably disposed to our request and further engagement, especially towards major players who desire to import equipment to aid deployment of broadband infrastructure services and others,” he said.

    The Commission, he explained, will always carry out interventions to support operators in the provision of necessary services.