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Tag: NCC

  • Data revolution ‘ll shake banking sector, says NCC

    Data revolution ‘ll shake banking sector, says NCC

    The Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Eugene Juwah, said Nigeria’s second revolution is in data, adding that it will have decisive effect on the banking sector as it will eliminate the expensive branch networks.

    Juwah said things are indeed happening in the industry without people taking notice.

    Juwah, who spoke at Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos, said the world is fast changing, lamenting that many people seem not to be realising it.

    He said: “The banking sector is the sector that will be most affected’ by the data revolution that will sweep across the sector. It will eliminate branch banking and allow the road side mechanic, who is afraid of going to the banking hall, to do banking transaction on their mobile phones.”

    Juwah said it is a fact that Nigeria is the fastest growing telecommunications market in Africa since the deregulation of the industry, adding that the transformation of telecom industry has led to a phenomenal increase in foreign direct investments (FDIs), employment, and efficient business transactions among others.

    This, he said, emphasises the importance of ICT in the development path of a nation. He said: “Nevertheless, for a country of about 180million people as at 2014, having more than 130million subscriber base, we cannot afford to be contented.  ICT remains a priority of the Federal Government and an important sector in the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration for strong, inclusive, non-inflationary growth, using ICT as the major driver for transformation.  Mr. President requires us to ensure that ICT facilities are extended to all citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “In this regard, internet and broadband have been globally acknowledged as the foundation for the nation’s transformation to a knowledge-based economy.”

    He said the path to an efficient broadband service in Nigeria has been a long and difficult one; internet connectivity has come a long way from a single international submarine cable system with 340GB total capacity installed in 2001 (SAT3) to four cable systems with international bandwidth capacity of over nine terra bits in 2012.

    He said in spite of the progress made, Nigeria is still a far cry from achieving what is considered global broadband standards even among other developing countries.

    He said it has become more worrisome the kind of services most service providers sell to their subscribers, all in the name of 3G, while some canvassed to have 4G, but nothing has changed in data services as consumer experience is nothing to write home about.

    He said the Commission has taken some steps towards realising effective deployment of broadband services in the country, realising that the world is a global village and Nigeria cannot afford to be improperly integrated into it. This integration, he argued, could be better achieved not only through voice telephony, but  effective data service delivery.

    “On consolidation of progress made so far, we have increased teledensity from 63 per cent in 2010 to more than 90 per cent in 2014. The NCC is targeting a 30 per cent increase in broadband internet penetration by 2018. The increase from its current level of six per cent is expected to come from the planned historic auction of the 2.6 gigahertz spectrum band,” Juwah said.

  • NCC urges subscribers to report recalcitrant operators

    NCC urges subscribers to report recalcitrant operators

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has urged subscribers, who are displeased with unsolicited text messages and voice calls  from their service providers to first complain to them, then ‘escalate’ the complain to the regulator.

    The commission’s Executive Vice Chairman, Dr Eugene Juwah, said customers have the fundamental right to be served well, adding that the customers deserve to get the full value for their money.

    Juwah, who spoke in Lagos, said there are set rules guiding the lodgment of complaints. According to him, the first point of call is the service provider, whose door steps the complaint is supposed to be lodged.

    He emphasised that as soon as the customer lodges complaint, he or she must strive to get a complaint ticket authenticating that he or she lodged the complaint.

    According to him, if the customer fails to get his problem solved, the complaint could then be escalated to the Consumer Affairs Bureau (CAB), where it will be taken up and sorted out with the service provider concerned.

    He said: “Well the NCC has avenues of complaints. We have a call centre where you can call us and complain. The call centre number is 622. It is toll free. If you call, somebody will be on ground to attend to your complaints. It is not good enough that consumers grumble in silence. It is your right as a consumer to be served well. It is also part of our responsibility in the NCC to protect the consumers.”

    When  told that the operators not only go beyond sending unsolicited messages at unholy hours but also use codes, conventional 11 digit GSM numbers to call their customers and ‘flash’ to force them to dissipate their air time, Dr Juwah  said it was music to his ears.

    He said: “I am just hearing this for the first time that they call. You see, without your complaining, there is nothing we can do. But if you complain, we will take it up with them. So, I urge you not to suffer in silence. Complain first to the service provider, ensure that you get a complaint ticket, wait for them to fix the problem and if they fail to do that, escalate it to the NCC.”

    Speaking on the issue, its Director, Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo, said though some of the unsolicited messages were ‘rogue’ messages generated through the internet from far flung continents, the NCC is not folding its arms or looking at the other side while the subscribers groan.

    He said the NCC has been working hard with mobile network operators (MNOs), directing them to upgrade their filters to block as many unsolicited messages as possible from their network.

    Ojobo said the internet remains largely unregulated, arguing that until the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) comes out with modalities to regulate the internet, a lot of unwholesome activities would continue to thrive.

     

  • Telecoms sector ends Q3 with 49.6m inactive lines

    Telecoms sector ends Q3 with 49.6m inactive lines

    • Grows subscribers to 134.5m

    The telecoms sector ended third quarter (Q3) with a total of 49,641,091 inactive phone lines while it recorded 134.5 million active telephone lines. It also grew teledensity to 96.08 per cent, latest data released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has shown.

    Online free encyclopedia, Wikipedia, defined telephone density or teledensity ‘as the number of telephone connections for every hundred individuals living within an area. It varies widely across the nations and also between urban and rural areas within a country. Telephone density has significant correlation with the per capita (GDP) of the area. It is also used as an indicator of economic development of the country or specific region.’

    The data released by the regulator showed that telecoms networks in the country recorded additional 1.3 million lines in September alone, having grown from 133.2 million to 134.5 million at the end of September of this year.

    The figure represents the total active telephone lines on the networks of MTN, Airtel, Glo and Etisalat, all operators of Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), the sick Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operators as well the fixed line operators.

    The dormant phone lines and increase in subscriber figures are the key highlights of the subscribers’ numbers showing the gap between the 184,148,420 connected lines and 134,507,329 active lines that bring revenue to the coffers of the operators as well as the Federal Government.

    A breakdown of the latest data showed that of the 134.5 million telephone subscriptions, GSM companies had 131.9 million; CDMA segment had 2.4 million while total fixed lines connected is 190,719.

    Since last year December and end of September this year, combined active subscriber base has grown in significantly, driving telephone penetration and thus sustaining Nigeria’s status as fastest growing in the global telecoms market.

    From December last year, when the mobile subscription stood at 127.6 million; the figure increased to 127.9 million in January; 129 million in February while by the end of first quarter ending March, the figure declined to 127 million.

    In April, the figure increased to 129.3 million; 131.1 million in May and in June, the figure rose to 132.7 million telephone lines.

    Also in July, active mobile subscriptions declined slightly to 132.1 but increased again to 133. 2 million while the figure reached 134.5 million by the end of September, according to the Commission’s latest official industry data.

    Over the last one decade, while subscriber figures continue to go up, quality of service (QoS) has remained an issue.

    With her huge land mass and population, the number of bas transmission stations (BTS) available in the country is under less than 30,000 while a smaller country such as Britain has more than 60,000 BTS.

    But in spite of the challenges, Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Dr Eugene Juwah said sector has done well, insisting that no any sector has done as much as the telecoms sector.

    He said no sector runs 24/7 in the country, providing services to the people but the telecoms sector.

  • Why quality of service remains poor, by NCC

    Why quality of service remains poor, by NCC

    The Nigerian Communications Commission  (NCC) has said quality of service (QoS) continues to be a problem in the telecoms sector not only because the highest percentage of telecoms traffic rides on wireless using microwave but because the sector is not insulated from what is happening within Nigeria’s ecosystem.

    Its Director, Public Affairs, Mr Tony Ojobo, who spoke on the sideline during the NCC Day at the Lagos International Trade Fair organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), described the problem as too much pressure in terms of traffic on telecoms networks due to the dearth of fixed lines.

    He said in developed countries that subscribers are quick to compare the country with, mobile phones are only used when the user is mobile, lamenting that in Nigeria, mobile is everything from offices to market to homes.

    According to him, 98 per cent of telecoms services in the country run on mobile which includes satellite, arguing that satellite technology has proven not to be resilient when there is rainfall.

    Ojobo, who represented the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), NCC, Dr Eugene Juwah, said the problem of unsolicited messages had a universal application as investigation had shown that most of the messages were rogue ones that originate from foreign countries, using the internet but riding on the infrastructure of the telcos.

    According to him, the lack of adequate fixed infrastructure has further complicated the matter, as operators also face challenges, such as vandalism, Right of Way (RoI), delay in granting approvals for infrastructure rollout by the government regulatory agencies, both at federal and state levels.

    “In Nigeria, there is a lot of pressure on the mobile networks. For instance, 98 per cent services being provided are resting on the mobile networks. In developed countries, there are adequate fixed infrastructures, they only use mobile services while they are on the move and use fixed line while at home, offices and other fixed places.

    “This, however, is not the case in Nigeria where whether at homes, offices, kitchens, toilets and anywhere, subscribers use mobile services, thereby putting great pressures on the mobile operators.”

    He said as at 2001, when the telecoms sector was liberalised, only about 450,000 connected lines were in the country for a population 100 million.

    “But today, we are talking of over 132 million connected lines in 13 years on the mobile networks, which are also facing a number of operating challenges. What we are saying here is that what has happened in the industry is phenomenal. Within a very short time of 13 years, we have connected millions of subscribers,” he said.

  • e-Commerce: Beyond selling shoes, bags, others online

    e-Commerce: Beyond selling shoes, bags, others online

    The liberalisation of the telecoms sector has boosted the economy. Access to telephony has become more democratised because of affordability. Figures from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) show that there are over 130 million active subscribers while mobile operators have provided mobile internet for e-commerce to thrive. LUCAS AJANAKU writes on innovations and challenges of e-commerce.

    Nigeria and, indeed, Africa provides  significant growth opportunities for players looking to have a sizeable bite of the emerging electronic or e-commerce cake.

    Analysts say the growth percentages are expected to reach hundreds and even thousands in no distant future, but argue that the growth trajectory does not match the value that comes with it.

    With the consistent growth of e-commerce in the country, with no sign of a slump, industry watchers say there is the prospect of a solid e-commerce expansion.

    But it is too common to associate e-Commerce with popular sites such as Jumia, Konga, Amazon and other online retail shops alone. In Nigeria, it is a belief by a large number of people that when one wants to buy consumer items such as shoes electronics or books, one could go online. It is also possible to book local and international flights and hotel accommodation online.

    Of course, other sites allow people to search for jobs or properties or cars, but cannot buy them online.

    Analysts wonder if e-Commerce is only for shoes and phones. The answer is no. e-Commerce, when properly done, allows an organisation to greatly increase its turnover and sales, irrespective of the business or the goods being sold.

    Chief Technology Officer, Computer Warehouse Group Plc, Mr. James Agada, said latest statistics showed that 66 million Nigerians are on Facebook, the popular internet social website. About 24 million Nigerians have smartphones that have internet capability, and internet penetration is at 50 per cent.

    Mobile internet provided chiefly by service providers using the global system for mobile communication (GSM) licence, has played significant role in this respect as it is used by men, women, children, teachers, students, businessmen and enterprises.

    The addressable market for any business that goes online literally explodes. The importer of shoes could sell to more dealers; the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) seller could sell to distributors, and the tailor could sell both tailoring service and ready-made clothes, while the event organiser or transporter could sell tickets using the internet.

     

    Boosting e-Commerce

     

    According to Agada, the CWG Openshopen internet platform enables anyone to sell anything online. Sales are not only about accepting orders. Information Technology (IT) is also about collecting payments and making deliveries.

    “With CWG Openshopen, these services are built such that once you sign up, you can, if you want, begin to receive payments online and have your goods delivered to customers nationwide without having to invest in any other logistics for payments or delivery. Take for instance, an FMCG that currently battles with a bank to help do collections and hires an army of order takers to input order details into its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.

    “The FMCG can replace the entire collection and ordering system by opening an online shop on Openshopen for her factors and distributors. They will order online, pay online and delivery can be arranged. Or consider a transporter, who wants to run a cashless ticketing system. Simply put the tickets online and people can buy and pay and get their ticket numbers which can be verified from a phone,” Agada said.

    He said: “The CWG Openshopen platform takes eCommerce way beyond the pedestrian selling of shoes and phones, and extends it into the best tool for increased market access. This is a deliberate design borne out of the determination of CWG Plc through her new CWG 2.0 initiative to democratise access to the technology of business.

    “With 17.6 million small enterprises in Nigeria, extending e-Commerce to the sale of locally made goods and services greatly expands market access for local content. This same role has been played by Alibaba in China. Today, Alibaba’s stock sells for $98-$100 per share. It will be interesting to see whether CWG shares will also trade at those levels in the nearest future.”

     

    Challenges

     

    A key stumbling block to the growth of e-commerce is power supply. Though there are innovative ways such as solar-powered chargers for mobile phones, inverters that could power PCs, power supply from the national grid continues to be a major issue.

    Analysts say although the government has done all that should be done in reforming the power sector, they argue that as with the telecoms liberalisation, it will take at least, some five years for the new owners of the successor firms of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to get  control of its debtors and start renewing the mass of obsolete infrastructure inherited from the power octopus.

    Aside unstable power supply, a new survey has highlighted other potential threats to the future of the internet including surveillance and government interference.

    The Pew Research Centre, a nonpartisan American think-tank based in Washington, D.C., that provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the world, sampled the opinion of 1,400 experts to get their view on the future of the internet.

    Majority said they hope that by 2025, there will not be significant changes for the worse and hindrances to the ways people get and share content online today.

    According to Pew, the four net threats experts fear are: actions by nation-states to maintain security and political control which will lead to more blocking, filtering, segmentation, and balkanisation of the internet; trust will evaporate in the wake of revelations about government and corporate surveillance.

    Another factor is commercial pressures affecting everything from internet, architecture and the flow of information which will endanger the open structure of online life. Efforts to fix the too much information (TMI) problem might over-compensate and actually thwart content sharing, the experts averred.

    Government’s interference on matters that concern the internet has become an imperative. Former Director-General, National Information Dvelopment Agency (NITDA), Prof Officer Cleopas-Angaye said the global trend now is for governments to look for ways of controlling the internet for national security.

    Chief Executive Officer, Teledon Group, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem said in view of the potential of cyber attack on banks, telcos, payment cards, air traffic controller (ATC), there is need for government intervention in controlling the cyberspace.

    He said Nigeria’s territorial integrity includes her cyber space and should be treated the way air, land sea borders are jealously protected. He, therefore, urged the appointment of a cyber security chief just as there are army, police, navy and air force chiefs.

    Britain has taken a firm decision on this. The government has directed internet service providers (ISPs) to block sites government considers ‘terrorist’ or otherwise dangerous.

    A professor of Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, U.S and architect of the Web, Jim Hendler, according to Pew, said: “If anything, it is privacy that will have to give way to openness, not the other way around. Repressive governments will be working hard to stop the spread of information. As today, there will be both good and bad news continually in that area, but over time more integration, access, and sharing will be a driving force.”

    It quoted Internet law expert at Gardere Wynne Sewell,U.S, Peter S. Vogel, as saying: “Privacy issues are the most serious threat to accessing and sharing Internet content in 2014, and there is little reason to expect that to change by 2025, particularly given the cyber terror threats confronting the Internet users and worldwide businesses.”

    Another issue is connectivity. But this is gradually paling into insignificance as there is a rising trend in retailers growing due to improvement in this area.

    According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 16 per cent of the African population has internet access – up from 10 per cent it was about two yers ago.

    The 2014 Mobile Media Consumption report released in February by InMobi, showed that 83 per cent of consumers planned to conduct mobile commerce this year – up 15 per cent from last year’s figures. The study includes data from 14, 000 users across 14 countries, including Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya.

  • NCC arrests nine for illegal business

    NCC arrests nine for illegal business

    The Nigeria Copyright Commission (NCC) has arrested nine persons in Onitsha for infringement of protected musical works, using MP3, MP4, memory cards among others.

    The commission, in alliance with armed security operatives, yesterday stormed Emeka Offor Plaza in the city to carry out the operation.

    NCC Director-General Mr. Afam Ezekude in a statement said the suspects would be arraigned as soon as investigations were completed.

  • NCC directs network operators to deploy more infrastructure

    NCC directs network operators to deploy more infrastructure

    TO improve telecommunication services in all nooks and crannies of the country, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has directed all network service providers in Nigeria to provide more telecommunication infrastructure.

    The Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau of the agency, Maryam Bayi, gave the directive yesterday in his address at the 67th edition of Consumer Outreach Programme in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, with the theme: “The effects of telecom infrastructure on human health.”

    According to him: “As of today, we have over 132 million connected lines while the teledencity has increased to about 94 per cent.”

    The NCC boss also said: “While the commission recognises that there might be some concerns regarding the effects of these infrastructure it is necessary for network operators to deploy there infrastructure across the country.”

    Bayi also faulted the claim that radiation from telecommunication masts mounted by GSM operators could be harmful to human beings.

    The NCC boss described such fears as misplaced, arguing that the masts and towers erected by telecom operators were necessary for continuous telecommunication services across the country.

     

  • Copyright commission impounds N25m broadcast equipment

    Operatives of the Nigeria Copyright Commission (NCC) in Enugu State have confiscated broadcast contrivances estimated at N25 million from pirates.

    The raids were carried out in the Enugu metropolis and Abakaliki in Ebonyi State.

    The NCC Enugu Zonal Manager, Mrs. Ngozi Okeke, told reporters that the operation took copyright inspectors to Asata, Uwani, Achara Layout and Agbani Road, in the Enugu metropolis, while they also raided Oraifite Street, Water Works Road and its environs in Abakaliki.

    The contrivances confiscated included three Humax decoders, one DSTV decoder, 20 strong decoders, two CTL decoders, two GOTV decoders and three AD/Sport smart cards.

    Also confiscated were one Al Jazeera smart card, one DSTV smart card, four cash receipt booklets, three cash record note books and remote controls.

    Mrs. Okeke said the two-day operation was led by Macfoy Akachukwu.

    The operations, she said, involved cutting and destruction of cable wires and boosters used by the pirates in the illegal distribution of content and signals. Other items were dismantled.

    Mrs. Okeke urged the public to heed the advice of the director-general to support NCC in its fight against piracy.

  • NCC releases information memorandum for auction of frequency licences

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has released information memorandum for prospective bidders for the auction of its 2.6 GHz Frequency Spectrum Licences.

    The NCC Executive Vice-Chairman, Dr Eugene Juwah, stated this in a statement issued at the weekend in Abuja.

    The statement advised those shortlisted to participate in the auction of the frequency spectrum licences in the 2.6GHz band to check the commission’s website for the information memorandum.

    It said the information memorandum contained details of requirements and timetable for the auction process.

    NAN reports that following the successful auction of the remaining 30MHz spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band in February, NCC initiated fresh arrangements to auction another available frequency license slot in the 3.5 GHz band.

    NAN also reports that the 2.3 GHz spectrum auction that saw the emergence of BitfluxCoomunications Ltd as winner was said to be transparent and fair by industry operators.

  • NCC blames Ebola for delay in licences issuance

    NCC blames Ebola for delay in licences issuance

    Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Eugene Juwah yesterday blamed the inability of the regulator to complete the process that would have produced the first two licecees of infrastructure providers (Infarcos) on the fear of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) that is ravaging parts of the West African sub-region.

    Juwah, who spoke as chief panelist at this year’s edition of the annual Telecoms Executives & Regulator Forum at Eko Hotel & Suite, Victoria Island, Lagos, lamented that the Commission was already behind schedule on its plans to accelerate the processes that would eventually dovetail to cheap, fast, reliable and ubiquitous broadband to every nooks and crannies of the country pursuant to the realisation of the ambitious goals of the National Broadband Plan (NBP).

    Under its Open Access Model, the regulator intends to licence seven Infracos, one each for the six geo-political zones of the country while the seventh would serve Lagos.

    He said meeting the five-fold target of broadband penetration in the country from the current less than seven per cent by 2018 remains a daunting challenge. He lamented that the process that would have added fillip to the achievement of the target has been stalled because the foreign consultants hired by the Commission to handle the bid evaluation would not come to the country because of the fear of Ebola which was imported into the country by the index, American/Liberian Patrick Sawyer.

    The Federal Ministry of Health has said there is no basis for anybody to fear Ebola, saying emphatically that there is no any Ebola case in the country.

    He said:”We are already behind schedule (on licensing of the Infracos) because we are using foreign consultants who refused to come to Nigeria because of Ebola. I will go and meet them tomorrow (today) in Dubai to evaluate the bids so that we can move forward.”