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Tag: NCC

  • NCC prepares licences for five broadband firms

    NCC prepares licences for five broadband firms

    The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday in Lagos, said its preparations for the licensing of five new broadband infrastructure companies (Infracos) has reached an advanced stage, adding that before the end of the first quarter of this year, the licencees will emerge.

    Its Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Prof Umar Dambatta who spoke during his maiden press conference at Lagos Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Ikekja, said a committee to handle the award of the licences has already been constituted in the Commission.

    Prof Dambatta who unveiled what he termed his “Eight Point Agenda for 2015-2020” said the pillars will ride on a tripod of three ‘As” which represent availability of service; accessibility of service; and affordability of service in line with the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s change agenda, an ideological shift in the creation of structures for social benefits and inclusiveness for national development.

    He said ubiquitous broadband provision is very important. He said while two Infracos have already been licenced to provide services in Lagos and the Northeast, the remaining five other geopolitical zones will be captured in the next licensing round.

    He said though not much is going on in the deployment of services in the two licensed zones, the Commission has invited MainOne which won the Lagos licence for discussion while HIS which won the Northeast licence will be engaged in meaningful discussion to drive the implementation of the National Broadband Plan of the Federal Government, grow sector contribution to national gross domestic product (GDP), create jobs and enhance good life for the citizens of the country.

  • $3.9b fine: MTN seeks ‘amicable settlement’ with NCC

    Mobile service provider, MTN, is seeking an “amicable” out-of-court settlement with Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) which has fined the firm $3.9 billion, a top official of the commission said on Wednesday.

    MTN has filed a suit against the fine which was imposed on the company for failing to deactivate unregistered phone SIM cards.

    “Our lawyers communicated to us that indeed MTN is resorting to a settlement out of court.

    “They (MTN) are trying to get this settled amicably,” Reuters quoted NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Umar Garba Danbatta, as saying to journalists on Wednesday.

  • $3.9b fine: NCC, MTN begin out-of-court settlement

    MTN Nigeria on Friday told the Federal High Court in Lagos that it has started an out-of-court settlement on the $3.9billion sanction imposed on it by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

    MTN’s lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), said parties were exploring settlement options.

    Olanipekun sought 60 days to allow for further discussions between both parties.

    Counsel for the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Oladipo Okpeseyi(SAN), said the telecommunication firm has not been consistent in its move for an amicable resolution.

    “This is a matter of national importance. There had been concessions in the past and nothing happened,” he said.

    He urged the court to make a consequential order that all the processes filed are deemed as properly filed and served.‎

    The judge granted the prayer.

    Justice Mohammed Idris held that the preliminary objections and substantive application would be taken together.

    NCC had in October last year sanctioned MTN for allegedly failing to disconnect unregistered subscribers.

    The initial fine of $5.2billion was reduced by 25 per cent to $3.9billion, with a December 31 payment deadline.

    But MTN challenged NCC’s powers to impose the fine. It argued that NCC being a regulator cannot assume all the functions of the state.

    MTN said the commission cannot make the regulation, prescribe the penalty and impose the fine payable to it and not to the Federal Government.

    The firm also alleged that it was not afforded its constitutional right to fair hearing before a court of competent jurisdiction.

     

     

  • N780b fine: MTN seeks early resolution

    N780b fine: MTN seeks early resolution

    MTN Nigeria at the weekend in Lagos said it is willing to restore relationship with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) so that the industry could move forward. It added that early resolution of the impasse is important for the telco as the total fine amounted to about 95 per cent of the Group’s total revenue for a year.

    The telco  spoke against the backdrop of its face-off with the regulator over the N780billion fine imposed on it for failing to deactivate about 5.2million pre-registered subscriber identity module (SIM) cards. MTN said it holds the regulator in very high esteem no matter the current situation in the industry. The fine issue has however become a subject of litigation in court.

    Its Chief Executive Officer, Ferdi Moolman and Corporate Service Executive, Aminat Oyagbola, who spoke with reporters at its Corporate Headquarters, in Lagos, said the regulator, as the most important stakeholder in the industry, could not be ignored.

    Moolman recalled the transformation that has taken place in the country over the years, saying for people that visited the country over the last 14 years, the development is too obvious to be ignored.

    He said MTN contributed in no small measure to the transformation because its vast network has served as vehicle to transform business and personal lives.

    He regretted that there may have been challenges in the course of upgrading and swapping obsolete equipment in the country, adding that the massive size of the network itself is also a challenge.

    Also speaking, Oyagbola said the approach to reconciliation is to correct any area where the firm had erred in the past and be transparent in dealing with all stakeholders in the ecosystem.

    “The approach is to take the steps lined up to move the industry forward, correct where we have erred in the past, ensure good business relationship with all stakeholders in the industry. It starts with the show of good faith; speaking the truth. We want to restore our relationship with the regulator and generate more goodwill,” she stated.

    MTN appealed to affected subscribers in the on-going re-registration of SIM cards, stressing that the whole process would be a win-win situation all stakeholders.

    Moolman said it has become imperative for the telco to ensure that it has a reliable database of its subscribers because of the next phase of the telecoms revolution, especially in the area of broadband services.

    Oyagbola said to ensure the integrity of the data being captured, MTN actually purchased new systems, hired about 10,000 contract staff for the re-registration process, adding that the firm was committed to supporting the government in building a dependable national database.

    According to her, the firm is doing the registration afresh, stressing that it will be done in batches, which should be completed in the next six months.

    “We are sorry about the number of time a subscriber had to revisit our outlet. The target is to have an accurate data base from our own end and then synchronise it with that of the regulator.

    “It is a huge exercise. We have placed order for SIM registration equipment from the manufacturers, but they claimed to have run out of stocks because it is not only Nigeria that is registering subscribers. They gave us till March for them to have stocks,” Oyagbola stated.

    The CEO also lamented the impact of the falling oil prices and fluctuating foreign exchange.

    According to him, these challenges are impacting negatively on the ability of the firm to import equipment from Abroad.

    “It is really disturbing and it has become more difficult to import equipment from abroad. These two issues of falling oil prices and fluctuating foreign exchange regime are serious issues, but we confident about CBN’s efforts in resolving the matter,” Moolman stated.

  • NCC, MTN and Nigerians

    SIR: A lot of issues has been raised on the sanction given to MTN by the communication body, National Communication Commission, (NCC) on its failure to remove 5.1million unregistered telephone subscribers from it network.

    Today, people are getting angry and frustrated over the situation which they have found themselves as a result of the negligence of the telecommunications company.

    Just few weeks back, I received a text saying ‘’please visit MTN branch at Bank Road, off Ahmadu Bello Way, Kaduna from Dec 26 with a valid ID to update your finger print and picture to NCC standards. Thank you”. On receiving this text, I decided to answer to the call of MTN.

    On reaching the MTN office, I  met an MTN official for enquires about the updates of the sim registration, and he went on telling me to go to another location for the updates of the registration.  What amazes me most is that when you buy an MTN sim, you have to register with your biometric before using it. Now we are told our registration was incomplete, how could that be possible?

    The question goes to MTN: what happened to our earlier registration we did? And who could we blame is it the NCC or MTN?

     

    • Abdullahi Mustapha Bello,

     IBBU Lapai Niger State.

  • N1.4tn fine: Court bars MTN from moving funds abroad

    The Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday barred MTN Nigeria Communications Limited from moving any funds from all banks in Nigeria abroad pending hearing of its suit challenging the N1.4trillion fine imposed on it by the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC).

    Justice Mohammed Idris ordered parties to maintain status quo.

    “An order is hereby made directing the parties cited herein to maintain the status quo ante bellum pending further hearing,” the judge said.

    Status quo ante bellum is Latin for “the way things were before.”

    In law, it refers to a temporary restraining in which a situation is restored to “the state in which it previously” existed.

    The Federal Government had, through a motion ex-parte, sought an order of mareva injunction restraining the 21 commercial banks from releasing any funds belonging to MTN.

    It sought “an order of mareva injunction restraining the aforementioned banks from releasing, further releasing any funds, making sale, transfer or payment of any monies or dealing in any manner whatsoever with any and all monies maintained by the plaintiff/respondent (MTN) or its agents, privies, subsidiaries, sister companies or the like in the aforestated banks that will alter, decline or reduce the amount of the first defendant’s/applicant’s fine against the plaintiff/respondent in the sum of N1,040,000,000,000 which has remained wholly unsatisfied, pending the determination of the motion on notice.”

    MTN is urging the court to quash the sanction imposed on it by NCC in October last year for failing to disconnect unregistered subscribers.

    The initial fine of $5.2billion was reduced by 25 per cent to $3.9billion last December.

    But MTN sued NCC and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), contending that NCC being a regulator cannot assume all the functions of the state.

     

  • Finance minister can’t approve NCC budget, says senator

    Finance minister can’t approve NCC budget, says senator

    THE senator representing Lagos West Solomon Adeola has faulted Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun’s call that the Nigeria Communications Commission’s (NCC) budget and those of other revenue generating agencies be submitted for approval.

    According to him, under the NCC Act, only the National Assembly could consider and approve the budget of NCC.

    The senator stressed that any attempt by the minister and the supervising minister to approve the budget of NCC would amount to a breach of the law and an encroachment on the function and power of the legislature.

    ”I am surprised that the minister included NCC among agencies to submit budgets for her and other supervising ministers to approve. As well-intentioned as this may seem in the effort to generate revenue and block leakages, it is a contravention of the NCC Act as well as usurping the power of the National Assembly to approve the budget of NCC,” he stated.

    The vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Communications referred the minister to Sections 17-21 of the NCC Act that dwelt on the financial provisions for commission, adding that the only fund NCC was mandated to pay to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the federation was  ”monies accruing from sale of spectrum” as contained in Section 17(3).

    Asserting that NCC was a semi-autonomous commission, Adeola said the Finance minister would only come in if the NCC wanted to borrow money.

    He said Section 25 (2) of the Act expressly forbids even the supervising minister from undue interference: “In execution of his functions and relationship with the commission, the minister shall, at all times, ensure that the independence of the commission, in regard to the discharge of its functions and operation under this Act, is protected and not compromised in any manner whatsoever”.

  • Lawyer to court: dismiss MTN’s suit against NCC

    A Lagos lawyer, Mr Tope Alabi, has urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to dismiss MTN Nigeria’s suit against the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

    He said the N1.04trillion fine imposed on MTN is in order, adding that the telecoms firm has no reasonable case against NCC.

    According to Alabi, granting MTN’s reliefs will result in “people breaking one law and hiding under another law to escape liability.”

    MTN is urging court to quash the $3.9billion sanction imposed on it by NCC in October for failing to disconnect unregistered subscribers. The initial fine of $5.2billion was reduced by 25 per cent to $3.9billion earlier this month. Yesterday was the payment deadline.

    But MTN through its lawyers led by a former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) president Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) is challenging NCC’s powers to impose the fine. It argued that NCC being a regulator cannot assume all the functions of the state.

    However, Alabi, in an application seeking to be joined as an interested party, said MTN’s suit is abuse of court process that must not be tolerated.

    The lawyer said for over three years, NCC had directed all service providers to register their SIM cards already sold and in circulation. He said he duly registered his line sometime in 2012 and MTN called him in 2013 to obtain further information towards completing the registration.

    “The first defendant (NCC) gave time limit for all subscribers to register their SIM cards. The time limit was also extended repeatedly. The plaintiff was in default to register 5,200,000 subscribers

    “The plaintiff could register all the 5,200,000 subscribers SIMs in default within the time limit and extended time given by the first defendant. I believe other service providers such as Airtel, GLO, Etisalat, Starcomm strictly complied with the first defendant’s directives without defaulting; except the plaintiff.

    “The plaintiff never denied it defaulted in registration of the 5,200,000 subscribers. The fine imposed on the plaintiff by the first defendant is in order. The suit of the plaintiff with reliefs sought therein will encourage culture of impunity in Nigeria.

    “The law under which the plaintiff is subjected to liability is justice-able and valid. It is in the interest of justice to grant this application for the applicant to defend this suit within the purview of the law,” Alabi said.

    Alibi prayed the court to grant his application so that he could prove that MTN has no reasonable cause of action against NCC, and that granting MTN’s prayers will encourage a culture of impunity in Nigeria “whereby people would do all kinds of illegal and unlawful acts and get away with it so long as they can secure legal service to escape liability.”

    He said: “My Lord, the plaintiff in this suit has not denied it defaulted in registration of 5, 200,000 subscribers. It only came before the court for sympathy that the fine of N200,000 per SIM is too excessive.

    “I know of fact that such a complaint does not warrant the court to quash the fine or the entire fine and set the plaintiff free to go home without fine. This, if the court allows, will massively lead to conduct of impunity of ‘I can do anything and nothing will happen’; so long as the court is there to set an offender free.

    “My Lord, we believe that Nigeria is not a dumping ground and at the same time, it is not a country of anything goes, neither is it a lawless country. The law under which the fine was imposed on the plaintiff is valid and subsisting and in accordance with the Constitution.

    “The plaintiff is seeking equity with dirty hands. The equitable jurisdiction of the court cannot be invoked mala fide by the plaintiff. We urge the court to so hold,” Alabi added.

  • NATCOMS canvasses alternative means to SIM card re-registration

    NATCOMS canvasses alternative means to SIM card re-registration

    The National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS) on Wednesday called for an alternative means for telecoms consumers to re-register their Subscribers’ Identification Module (SIM) cards.

    The President of NATCOMS, Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that operators should provide an easier means for customers affected by the SIM card re-registration to be able to re-register, instead of going to the service providers’ offices.

    Ogunbanjo said that a perfect alternative was for the network providers to allow those affected to send the required data through Short Messaging Service (SMS).

    He said that such an alternative means would ensure that telecoms subscribers were not subjected to any stress for an exercise they had undertaken previously.

    ”SIM registration is very good, but there should be some deliberate initiative to ensure that the subscribers are not subjected to any further stress.

    ”All of us have registered before, but there might be one or two details that the operators need.

    ”A particular network provider could send SMS to you that it required more details on your data and once you attend to them through an SMS that you send to the network, it should just be okay.

    ”They should engage other means of capturing subscribers’ additional data,” the NATCOMS President said.

    He said that the problem with the SIM card registration procedures should be blamed on the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the agents it commissioned to carry out the exercise.

    Ogunbanjo recalled that the regulatory body licensed seven agents to cover the six geopolitical zones of the country, but that the agents did not carry out the exercise properly.

    He said that due to set targets and deadlines given, the registration agents were not asking the complete questions required from SIM card users.

    The advocacy group president, therefore, encouraged the operators to continue to compensate subscribers affected by the exercise.

    According to him, the airtime compensation given to the consumers should not be with any conditionality in respect of days for usage.

    NAN recalls that in August 2015, MTN, Airtel, Globacom and Etisalat were sanctioned for noncompliance with the directive to deactivate improperly registered SIM cards.

    MTN was fined N102.2 million, Globacom N7.4 million, Etisalat N7 million and Airtel N3.8 million for the violation. Others complied and paid, while MTN flouted the fine.

    On Oct. 20, 2015, NCC conveyed appropriate sanctions to MTN, in accordance with Regulation 20(1) of the Telephone Subscribers Registration Regulation 2011, to pay the sum of N200, 000 only for each of the 5.2 million improperly registered SIM cards in its network.

    MTN Nigeria was, therefore, fined $5.1 billion (about N1.04 trillion), but it was later reduced by 25 per cent to N780 billion, and the deadline for payment extended from Nov. 16 to Dec. 31.

    However, on Dec. 17, 2015, MTN took the regulatory body to court over the sanction.

     

  • Fed Govt insists MTN must pay N780b fine tomorrow

    Fed Govt insists MTN must pay N780b fine tomorrow

    Despite a suit in court, the Federal Government yesterday insisted that mobile giant MTN must pay the N780billion fine imposed on it by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) latest tomorrow.

    The government has also engaged a five-man team of Senior Advocates to defend the sanction in court.

    The Ministry of Communications made the clarifications against the backdrop of fears of whether or not the government will stay action on the imposition of the fine.

    MTN was punished for managing improperly registered 5.2m Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) Cards.

    A top official said: “The fact that MTN has gone to court does not amount to a stay of the fine. We have not got any order restraining the Federal Government from collecting the fine.

    “An application before a court does not amount to the nullification of the sanction or a stay of action.”

    The Special Assistant to the Minister of Communications, Victor Oluwadamilare, who spoke exclusively with our correspondent, said there was no going back on the deadline.

    He said the government will enforce the fine by December 31st.

    He said: “Sequel to the suit filed by MTN, a team of very senior eminent lawyers has been put together to defend the interest of the Federal Government. I have on good authority that the lawyers have filed an objection to the MTN suit on diverse grounds.

    “The suit is however without prejudice to the powers of NCC to enforce the fine clamped on MTN in line with the relevant provisions of the NCC Act.

    “If ex-President Goodluck Jonathan had tackled the hydra-headed corruption monster and crass inefficiency in all spheres of governance like President Muhammadu Buhari is presently doing, the MTN saga would not have happened, not to talk of MTN’s audacity to go to court over a clear case of gross misconduct of trading 5.2million lines illegally in clear contravention of NCC’s guidelines.

    “It seems that the MTN is still under the illusion of the permissible era of the Jonathan’s administration where anything goes. President Buhari’s government remains a purposeful and result-driven administration that brooks no nonsense and will not tolerate underhand manoeuvres.

    “The leadership of the Communication sector under Minister Adebayo Shittu, whose character and integrity are impregnable, has remained focussed to ensure things are done differently for the country to achieve unprecedented success as envisioned by President Buhari.

    “This will serve as deterrent to other telecoms operators in Nigeria. Nigerians are tired of poor service, Nigerians deserve the best and we will stop at nothing to do that.”

    The NCC explained how MTN committed infractions and its neglect of warnings.

    It said: “The fine that was imposed on MTN was the second within two months after the operators were given a seven-day ultimatum to deactivate all unregistered and improperly registered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) Cards. While others complied, MTN did not.

    “On August 4, 2015, at a meeting of all the representatives of the Mobile Network Operators (MNO), with NCC, major security challenges through preregistered, unregistered and improperly registered SIM Cards topped the agenda after which Operators were given the ultimatum to deactivate such within seven days.

    “On August 14, 2015, three days after the ultimatum expired, NCC carried out a network audit, while other Operators complied with the directive, to deactivate the improperly registered SIM Cards, MTN showed no sign of compliance at all.

    “Please recall that four (4) Operators; MTN, Airtel, Globacom and Etisalat, were sanctioned in August for non compliance of the directive to deactivate the improperly registered SIM Cards. MTN got a fine of N102.2million, Globacom N7.4million, Etisalat N7million and Airtel N3.8million fine.  Others complied while MTN flouted the fine.

    “Based on the report of the compliance Audit Team, an Enforcement Team which visited MTN from September 2 – 4, 2015 wherein MTN admitted that the Team confirmed that 5.2million improperly registered SIM Cards were still left active on their network; hence, a contravention of the regulations was established.

    “Consistent with the Commission’s enforcement process, MTN was, by a letter dated October 5, 2015, given notice to state why it should not be sanctioned in line with the Regulations for failure to deactivate improperly registered SIM Cards that were found to be active at the time of enforcement team’s visit of September 15, 2015.

    “On October 19, 2015, the Commission received and reviewed MTN’s response and found no convincing evidence why it should not be sanctioned for the established violations.

    “Accordingly, by a letter dated October 20, 2015 the Commission conveyed appropriate sanctions to MTN in accordance with Regulations 20(1) of the Telephone Subscribers Registration Regulation 2011, to pay the Sum of N200,000.00 only for each of the 5.2million improperly registered SIM Cards.”

    The statement  said all stakeholders in the industry were part of the registration of telephone subscribers in Nigeria.

    It said: “In order to ensure proper identification of telephone subscribers with their biometric data and in line with international best practice, the Commission came up with a framework for the registration of telephone subscribers in Nigeria.  (Nigerian Communications Commission Registration of Telephone Subscribers Regulations 2011).

    “The above Regulations were developed with the full participation of all key industry stakeholders, including all Mobile Network Operators (MNO) in 2011.

    “The Commission on its part has a statutory responsibility to monitor and enforce compliance to the rules. More so, when national security is at stake.”

    The statement explained that National interest is paramount because when lives are lost they cannot be replaced.

    “As a responsible Regulator, the NCC will not stand by and watch Rules and Regulations for Engagement being flouted by any Operator.

    “The Commission has adopted a smart regulation in its oversight function in the industry, hence it has always weighed the implications of sanctions, that is why it had to place the appropriate sanction accordingly.”

    The NCC statement further said that sanctions are the last resort after all overtures fail but this does not in any way undermine Industry Standards and the interest of Investors.