The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NCC

  • NCC moves against unsolicited SMS by telcos

    NCC moves against unsolicited SMS by telcos

    Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said it is taking steps to develop a regulation that will deal with unsolicited text messages and illegal data charges by telcos.

    Its Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Dambatta,  spoke in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State during the 1st Ebonyi Youth Summit on refocusing talented youth for sustainable national development in training and capacity building through ICT revolution.

    “The commission is taking steps to develop a regulation that will deal with unsolicited text messages and illegal data charges,” he said.

    He said the regulator has been proactive and efficient in mediating between telcos and the service consumers.

    Represented at the training by a Director in the Commission, Austin Chucks Odoh,  Prof Dambatta urged  telecom service consumers to take advantage of the toll-free number provided by the commission to lodge their complaints.

  • Governors partner NCC to check multiple taxes

    Governors partner NCC to check multiple taxes

    The Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) and the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, are currently exploring ways to check multiple regulations and taxation in the telecommunication industry, the Executive Vice Chairman, EVC, of Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta has said.

    He said the development would not only improve service delivery and right of way but lead to the expansion of telecommunications infrastructures across the country.

    Besides the talks with the Governors Forum, Prof. Danbatta said other agencies of government are being carried along to improving relationship with telecommunications Service Providers who are often the victims of multiple taxes and regulations.

    Prof. Danbatta made the remarks in Abuja when he received the management team of ATC Wireless Infrastructure Company of Nigeria (ATC Nigeria) in his office.

    In a statement issued by the NCC’s Director of Public Affairs Tony Ojobo, Prof. Danbatta expressed concern over the issue of multiple regulations and taxes, saying the industry cannot grow as expected under the present circumstance.

    “So we have decided to engage all stakeholders especially other government agencies in order to cushion the pains operators go through,” he said.

    Danbatta said; “the NCC is particularly worried about the indiscriminate way base transceiver stations are sealed by agencies and some State governments and we have appealed to these agencies and the State Governors to show some understanding.

    “We are particularly in talks with them to understand the implications of these actions as they affect quality of service and other sundry matters, including power supply.”

    According to the statement, Prof. Danbatta implored ATC Nigeria to ensure regular power supply to the managed base stations in order to make a difference, considering the enabling environment created by government for businesses to thrive.

    The Chief Executive of ATC Nigeria, Mr. Gordon Porter said his team came to familiarize itself with the NCC management, said the statement.  “We are here to tell you what we do, how we do it and why we do what we do,” Mr Porter added.

    The statement further said ATC recently acquired 4716 cell sites from Bharti Airtel Nigeria and for the past 146 days it has deployed 1,000 generators and replaced 600 air-condition units.

    It added that so far over $11Million has been invested by the company on these towers with a view to improving quality of service very significantly.

     

  • Senate confirms Danbatta as EVC, NCC

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

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

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

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

  • Senate confirms Danbatta as NCC chief

    Senate confirms Danbatta as NCC chief

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

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

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

    The statement reads: “Before his appointment, he was the Acting Vice Chancellor, Kano State University of Science and Technology, Wudil.

    “Born in Danbatta Local Government Council of Kano State, Prof. Danbatta obtained his BEng and MSc degrees from the Technical University of Wroclaw in Poland and his PhD from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) UK respectively.

    “He has served as a lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Bayero University, Kano, for 28 years, where he taught courses in telecommunications engineering and electronics and held academic positions of Dean of the Faculty and Head of Department. His main responsibilities, in the university, included Deputy and Acting Dean of Students’ Affairs, Administrator of the Works Department and later, Director of the Centre for Information Technology (CIT).

    “He was also a member of over 60 University committees and task forces, including numerous stints as Chairman.  In administrative and other responsibilities outside the university, he has served on over 20 committees, prominent among which was his Chairmanship of the implementation Committee of pioneer Deputy and Acting Vice-chancellor when it took off in 2001.  Prof. Danbatta has supervised more than 60 PhD, MEng and BEng projects in diverse areas of telecommunications.

    “He has to his credit more than 50 articles in journals, conference proceedings and technical reports.  He is also the author of a six-chapter, 167 – page book titled – Element of Static Engineering Electromagnetics.”

  • NCC to sanction MTN, Airtel, Globacom over auto data service migration

    NCC to sanction MTN, Airtel, Globacom over auto data service migration

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday  said it would sanction MTN, Airtel and Globacom for defying its directive on automatic migration to Pay-As-You-Go data bundle.

    The Commission made this known in its ‘2015 third quarter Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Report’ obtained pasted on its website.

    NCC said it had continued to receive complaints from subscribers on automatic migration of data bundle package to Pay-As-You-Go Billing on depletion of their data bundle.

    ‘’Consequently and pursuant to section 53(1) of the NCC Act, 2003. The commission on 3rd August 2015 directed all mobile service operators to comply with the data bundle directions.

    According to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), NCC said “where a subscriber’s data bundle account is fully depleted before the due date, service providers should notify the subscriber via SMS, giving information regarding the tariff/ billing rate for automatic migration.

    ‘’That all service providers should henceforth stop auto-migration of subscriber’s data service to the Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) account upon depletion of the data bundle account, except with the express consent and authorisation of the subscriber via SMS.’’

    NCC said that a follow-up compliance check was carried out which revealed that Etisalat was in compliance with the directives, adding  that Etisalat through SMS, notified its subscribers of depletion of their data bundle accounts, before due dates.

    The telecoms regulator also said that Etisalat sought the consent of subscribers before automatically migrating them to the Pay-As-You-Go data service.

    It pointed out that ‘’Globacom is in compliance with Direction No. One as subscribers receive SMS detailing tariff rate for auto-migration on depletion of their data bundle, stating however, that Globacom failed to obtain express consent from subscribers before migration to PAYG and therefore in violation of Direction No. Two.

    NCC explained that ‘’MTN is in compliance with Direction No.One, but failed to highlight the tariff rate for PAYG billing. In addition, data service is not suspended on depletion of the data bundle account even without an authorisation via an SMS from the subscriber.

    It said ‘’Airtel is not in compliance with the above directions, stating that consequent upon the above, “the Commission has issued a notice of intention to sanction the concerned service providers.”

  • MTN: NCC delays deadline for payment of $5.2b fine

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has acceded to demand by MTN that the N1.4trillion ($5.2 billion) fine imposed on the company for failing to cut off unregistered SIM cards be paid at the end of ongoing discussion with the Federal Government.

    MTN said in a statement on Monday that the NCC has pushed back a Monday deadline for payment of the fine until talks have been concluded.

    The deadline for payment of the fine expires on Monday evening.

    MTN was accused of harboring some 5.2million unregistered SIM cards on its network.

    The NCC has been pushing operators to verify the identity of their subscribers, concerned that unregistered SIM cards were being used for criminal activity in a country facing insurgency from the Boko Haram sect.

    The MTN’s statement reads: “Although the NCC set a deadline for payment of the fine by Monday, 16 November 2015 (today), shareholders are advised that the Nigerian authorities have, without prejudice, agreed that the imposed fine will not be payable until the negotiations have been concluded.

    “Shareholders are advised that the Executive Chairman of the Company, Mr. Phuthuma Nhleko, has personally met with the Nigerian authorities to continue the ongoing discussions with them regarding the fine of N200,000 for each unregistered subscriber (the fine), the equivalent of $5.2 billion imposed on MTN Nigeria by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). These discussions include matters of non-compliance and the remedial measures that may have to be adopted to address this.

    “Accordingly, shareholders are advised to continue to exercise caution when dealing in the company’s securities until a further announcement is made.

    “MTN is committed to resolving the matter together with the NCC as soon as possible and will continue to update stakeholders of any material developments regarding the afore-mentioned fine via SENS.”

     

  • Court refuses to restrain NCC over N1.4tr MTN fine

    Court refuses to restrain NCC over N1.4tr MTN fine

    • Payment deadline lapses today

    The Federal High Court in Lagos has refused to grant an ex-parte application by the Incorporated Trustees of National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS) against the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) over the N1.4trillion fine imposed on MTN.

    Justice Mohammed Idris declined to make interim orders, but asked the plaintiffs to serve the defendants with the motion on notice.

    The judge also abridged the time for hearing and granted an order for the plaintiffs to serve the respondents outside Lagos.

    The association and its President Oluyinka Oyeniji (who sued for themselves and on behalf of MTN subscribers), sought an injunction restraining NCC from “exerting, enforcing and further imposing or enforcing any sanctions on the second respondent (MTN) especially the sum of N1.4trn.”

    NCC had imposed the fine on MTN over its alleged harbouring of some 5.2million pre-registered subscriber identity module (SIM) cards on its network. The telco has today as deadline to pay the fine, failure of which it might face stiffer sanctions from the regulator.

    Efforts by the telco to reach an amicable settlement with the regulator appeared to have fallen through while the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Sifiso Dabengwa had resigned his position last week. This development had fuelled calls by stakeholders in the telecoms sector, on its Nigeria CEO, Mr. Michael Ipkoki, to resign his appointment too.

    The plaintiffs also sought to restrain MTN from making any payments regarding the N1.4trillion penalty pending the determination of the Motion on Notice.

    They prayed for an order for parties to maintain status quo (which means nonpayment of any sanctions or penalty regarding the deactivation of subscribers pending the argument of the substantive suit).

    Among others, the plaintiffs sought an order mandating NCC to render documentary evidence of accounts showing the fines imposed on MTN and other telecommunications operators, including their appropriation and disbursement from 2002 till date.

    In an originating summons, the plaintiffs sought a declaration that both NCC and MTN are statutorily responsible for the registration of telephone subscribers based on NCC (Registration of Telephone Subscribers) Regulations, 2011.

    They prayed the court to declare that NCC failed in its statutory duties to conduct monthly updates of the central database from 2011 till 2015, and to efficiently maintain it despite “huge sums” of money deployed.

    The plaintiffs asked the court to declare the N1.4trillion fine as illegal, unconstitutional, null and void because NCC cannot unilaterally impose and/or exert any fine on a telecoms firm without a court’s order after conviction for an infraction.

    NATCOMS also wants to the court to hold that NCC cannot be a judge in its own case by imposing a fine on MTN.

    The plaintiffs sought orders mandating NCC to onduct monthly updates on the central database; to conduct rigorous campaigns for telephone subscribers to update their particulars; to apologise to subscribers for failing in its duties; to account for all the fines it had imposed on telecoms operators; and to utilise fines imposed upon conviction as compensation to telephone subscribers.

    They sought N10million as cost of the action.

    In a supporting affidavit, Oyeniji said subscribers had volunteered their details before now to the respondents. Besides, he said NCC has not accounted for previous fines.

    “I am aware that the dispute resolution procedure of the NCC Act, 2003 have not been followed by the first respondent and the latter itself is culpable having failed to guarantee the integrity and incorruptibility of the Central Database from 2011 until the end of 2015,” he said. Justice Idris adjourned till November 19 for hearing.

  • NCC okays MTN’s N18.6b spectrum licence renewal bid

    NCC okays MTN’s N18.6b spectrum licence renewal bid

    The Nigerian Commununications Commission (NCC) has granted MTN’s application for renewal of its licence.

    MTN has uptil next month to pay the $94.2 million (about N18.6billion) for the renewal, which will subsist till 2021.

    MTN has November 16 deadline to pay the N1.4trillion it was fined by NCC for subscriber identity module (SIM) card irregularity fine.

    A source in the regulatory agency yesterday said the licence renewal and SIM card trivails of the telco are unrelated. The source said the process for licence renewal preceded the SIM card problem the telco has with the regulator.

    The source said the telco is still in discussion with the Federal Government, adding that when ongoing engagements are concluded, its “outcome will be communicated to you.”

    MTN said it received confirmation from the regulator that its operating spectrum in the 900 megahertz (MHz) and 1800 MHz frequency bands had been renewed.

    The NCC said: “The Digital Mobile License (DML) won by MTN in 2001 was for a period of 15 years commencing from 9/2/2001 to 8/2/2016, subject to automatic renewal as provided for in paragraph 3 and 4 of the DML license condition.

    “Recall that in 2006, MTN (along with other licenses), was granted the Unified Access Service License (UASL) for a period of 10 years commencing from 1/9/2006 to 31/8/2016. In 2007 when MTN won the 2GHz spectrum licence, the Commission based on the information memorandum requested MTN to pay for the extension of its UASL License (August, 2007). Records available in finance department show that MTN paid for the extension of the license in 2007 from 10 years to 15 years.

    “Early this year, in compliance with the condition of the DML, license on renewal as cited above, MTN, along with another licensee (Airtel), applied for the renewal of its DML license which expires on 8th February, 2016.

    “After due consideration by the Commission, it was decided that DML issuance will be discontinued, as it had been subsumed under the UASL. However, the tenure of the spectrum license being used for this service, 900MHz and 1800MHz, would be harmonised to run concurrently with the UASL for administrative convenience. The Commission by a letter dated 27th July, 2015 had asked MTN to pay for the extension of the spectrum till 31st August, 2015.

    “However, based on MTN’s letter of 6th August, 2015, it was discovered that it had paid for an extension in 2007. There was however no document to show that the extension was duly communicated to MTN. Accordingly, MTN has to pay Spectrum fees till 2021 instead of 2016 as earlier advised.”

    Reacting to the development, MTN Corporate Affairs Executive, Akinwale Goodluck said the licence renewal is vote of confidence in the ability of the telco to continue to render innovative services and contribute to the growth of Nigeria economy.

    “We view this extension as a demonstration of confidence in MTN’s capacity to continue to provide ground-breaking and innovative services to its customers,’’ Akinwale Goodluck, said in a separate statement.

    Shares in MTN, which earns 37 per cent of its revenue from Nigeria, dropped by 25 per cent since the fine was announced last week.

    South Africa’s bourse on Monday suspended trading in its stock for a few hours.

    The firm’s shares recovered somewhat in early trade on the bourse, advancing 0.9 per cent to 149.50 rand.

    The company’s largest shareholder, South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation, said it was concerned about MTN’s alleged non-compliance with telecoms regulations of Nigeria.

    The allegation was that MTN’s management did not immediately disclose material information to the market.

  • NCC arrests man for ‘illegal’ DSTv broadcast

    NCC arrests man for ‘illegal’ DSTv broadcast

    Operatives of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) yesterday arrested a 35-year-old man, Godswill Onyefuru, for allegedly transmitting illegal house-to-house MultiChoice (DSTv) signals to residents of Ibeno, Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

    Onyefuru, a graduate of Political Science from the University of Benin (UNIBEN), was arrested following the petitions Multichoice sent to NCC about “a certain individual” transmitting its signals to Ibeno residents.

    NCC’s Director-General, Afam Ezekude, who was represented by the commission’s Uyo Liaison Officer, Amudipe Charles, said the suspect was arrested for illegally transmitting broadcast signals of DSTv to an estimated 400 subscribers at a giveaway price of N3,500 for installation and N1,000 monthly subscription.

    The DG said Onyefuru was arrested while his “illegal” equipment for the transmission, such as decoders, smart cards, transmission boosters, cables and other accessories worth millions of naira, were seized.

     

  • NCC renews MTN’s license

    …Talks over $5.2b fine continue

    The Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) has extended MTN Group’s operating license, the company said on Tuesday, quelling fears that Africa’s biggest mobile phone firm would have to pay a $5.2 billion fine before the license could be renewed.

    Johannesburg-based MTN is in talks with the Federal Government about the fine, imposed on its unit in Nigeria for failing to cut off more than 5 million users with unregistered SIM cards, Reuters reported.

    Nigeria has been pushing operators to verify the identity of their subscribers, on concerns that unregistered SIM cards were being used for criminal activity in a country facing an insurgency from the Boko Haram sect.

    “We view this extension as a demonstration of confidence in MTN’s capacity to continue to provide ground-breaking and innovative services to its customers,” Reuters quoted MTN corporate affairs executive, Akinwale Goodluck, as saying in a statement.