The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NCC

  • Copyright owners urge NCC to obey judgments

    Copyright owners urge NCC to obey judgments

    A group, the Concerned Copyright and Intellectual Property Owners (CCIPO), has urged the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) to obey Federal High Court judgments recognising the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria (MCSN) as a legal entity.

    It said the court gave judgments in favour of MCSN in two cases numbered FHC/L/CS/35/08 and FHC/L/CS/1163/12 on July 25, 2011 and on March 18 last year.

    The verdicts, CCIPO said, affirmed the legality and constitutionality of MCSN’s existence and operations.

    The group decried the centralised administration of copyright, particularly the business of royalty collection in the entertainment industry.

    CCIPO, in a letter to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke (SAN) recalled that the House of Representatives also held a Public Hearing on forced monopoly in royalty collection and directed that the NCC approves or licenses MCSN forthwith.

    “Instead of the NCC to obey these judgments of the Federal High Court, they continued in the acts of persecution of MCSN by filling series of spurious criminal charges against it and its officials on the same alleged offences at different divisions of the Federal High Court,” the group said the letter signed by its National Coordinator, Mike Pam; President, George Dureke and Public Relations director Yinka Davies

    It alleged the commission has continued to disobey the National Assembly by refusing to approve MCSN or review other applications for approval, and accused a “cabal” in the NCC of engaging in regulatory rascality, thereby hurting the entertainment industry and intellectual property sector.

    “If monopoly is bad for every other sector in our economy, including the political sector, why should it be good for only the entertainment/intellectual property sector?” it asked.

    The group sought the immediate de-monopolisation of collective administration of copyright, saying the sector should be opened up through deregulation in the spirit of the Transformation Agenda.

    “The imposed monopoly has continued and become entrenched. This has become unbearable for genuine copyright and other intellectual property owners in Nigeria, particularly our members whose constitutional and fundamental human rights are being trampled upon,” it added.

  • GSM subscriber base hits 130m, says NCC

    GSM subscriber base hits 130m, says NCC

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said subscribers figures in the country has now reached 130 million.

    Its Executive Vice Chairman, Dr Eugene Juwah, who spoke in Abuja, said the growth has been phenomenal and significant.

    Juwah who was represented by the Commission’s Director, Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo,  said the sector began its journey in 2001 with about 400,000 subscribers, noting that by this year, it was a miracle that 130 million Nigerians now use global system for mobile (GSM) communication.

    He said in terms of employment opportunities, economic activities and value addition to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), the industry remained at the lead, stressing that soon, another revolution would be witnessed in the sector.

    The EVC who spoke at the NCC Special Day at the on-going Abuja International Trade Fair, said the coming revolution in the sector would be precipitated by the massive investment in infrastructure by service providers and the NCC.

    Juwah said seven infrastructure companies would be licensed in the next few weeks to provide the infrastructural requirements to drive the services.

    His words:  “130 million subscribers, that is a phenomenon, that is a miracle. “We believe that this nation is going to move forward, and just as we saw in the telecommunication sector, we are going to see the miracle in other sectors in this nation.

    “You are aware that the Commission has engaged some consultants and we have adopted the open access model for the implementation of broadband in Nigeria. Now, the challenge has been that of infrastructure.”

    He said  the NCC is already addressing the infrastructural deficit the sense that seven infrastructure companies are going to be licensed, two of them in the next few weeks, to provide the infrastructural requirement that will drive the services. He stated that this is the beginning of the revolution that is going to happen in the next couple of years in the area of broadband deployment.

    He said just as it was witnessed in the area of voice segment, the sector is going to witness same in the area of data, as far as broadband is concerned.

    He explained that the foundation is going to be laid with the licensing of seven infrastructure companies regionally, starting from Lagos and Northcentral and later the others will follow.

    Juwah said this will usher in the era of digital communication, broadband services, era of enhanced business communication in terms of data. He added that telecommunication still remains the best sector in spite of the challenges in the quality of service delivery.

    Director, Consumer Affairs Services, Mrs Mariam Biye, said the Commission in partnership with the Consumer Consultative Council (CCC), is working out modalities on how compensation could reach consumers who have been at the receiving ends of poor quality of services from the various service providers.

    She said the compensation so far paid by service providers as a result of various sanctions imposed on them are not in the coffers of NCC, but that of the Federal Government.

    She said NCC is also working together with service providers to stop unsolicited text messages and unnecessary depletion of the accounts of GSM users by service providers on spurious and unfounded grounds, stressing that NCC had opened consumers complaint line-622- nationwide for subscribers.

    She added that from investigations and some demonstrations recently carried out by service providers, it was discovered that some consumers fell victim of depletion of their accounts due to the products they subscribe to and the type of handset they use.

  • NCC seizes N3 million worth of bibles, books in Calabar

    NCC seizes N3 million worth of bibles, books in Calabar

    The Nigeria Copyrights Commission (NCC) has seized pirated bibles and books worth N3 million in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

    Several people suspected to be selling the pirated works were also arrested.

    Director of enforcement of the commission, Mr Amodu Augustine Aliyu, told reporters after a raid of some bookshops that piracy has been one of the factors killing the country’s economy.

    He said the Calabar raid was at the instance of the Bible Society of Nigeria who complained their works have been heavily pirated.

    He said, “It is pertinent to note that piracy has been the cankerworm that is biting deep into the fabric of the economy of this nation.

    “The raid we have carried out today is at the instance of the Bible Society of Nigeria. The BSN has various titles of bibles pirated across the nation. We have done the same in Aba, Port Harcourt, Uyo which all recorded success. It was only in Aba that enforcement officers of the commission were severely attacked and vehicles vandalized.

    “However, we are bent on zero tolerance to piracy. We have been fighting this issue and would continue to fight it. There is no resting place for those that engage in this illicit business. We have concluded successfully and have arrested a number of group of people that engage in selling pirated works most especially bibles.

    “We have seized bibles and books worth N3 million and it is a continuous process. This is book season and people want to make money. A pirate is a thief and a thief must be brought book.”

  • NCC braces for spectrum auction

    NCC braces for spectrum auction

    •’Low participation not our doing’

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said it has started a process that will lead to the issuance of another spectrum license to operators in the country pursuant to Federal Government’s national broadband plan.

    The Commission also absolved itself of any blame for the dismal participation of operators at the last auction in Abuja, arguing that its responsibility was to provide the level playing field for all participants while the decision of who participated or did not was purely that of the investors.

    Its Director, Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo who spoke with The Nation on the sideline of a forum in Lagos said the NCC has started another process that will see another auctioning of spectrum in the 2.6 gigahertz (GHz) band to complement the one issued earlier in the year in which Bitflux, a relatively unknown IT firm beat Globacom to clinch the license.

    He said: “Participation at the last bid round for spectrum was very low because people knew that this particular one is coming. This is a question of choice and it is purely a business decision of the organisation. You have of two options and you ask yourself- Should I go for this one? if I go for this one am I going to have enough money to participate at the next one when it comes? Or should I just wait for this one because they don’t deliver the same kind of value? The 2.3GHz is for bulk that is wholesale. This one coming soon is different. So the point is that this one is different and people did their business plan and looked at the numbers. If the numbers added up for them to go ahead, they will go but if the numbers do not add up, they will keep their funds.”

    “Ours is to create a level playing field for the investors while the investors will make their investment decision of whether to invest or not. Some important thing is that some level playing field has been created. Twenty-seven companies indicated interest when we did the last one in Abuja but only two got to the final stage. The other people that dropped by the way said it was based on their business plan.”

    Ojobo said the number of times the regulator auction spectrum is a function of the availability of its availability, adding that as the nation prepares for the analogue switch off next year, more frequencies would be vacated by the broadcast industry for telecommunication. He said ubiquitous availability of broadband itself is a function of the availability of spectrum.

    He said: “The issue of broadband is about spectrum because there are areas of Nigeria that it will be very difficult to take optic fibre cable. In places such as that, we will use wireless to bridge the gap because optic fibre cable is wired. So, the 2.6 GHz that NCC is preparing to auction will deliver wireless services. Then remember that preparations are also in top gear to license infrastructure providers (Infracos) to complement the efforts. Seven companies will be licensed one in each of the six geo-political zones of the country while one will serve Lagos. Already, the process to do the first phase of licensing is on and we are hoping it will be concluded before the year runs out.”

  • First Lady congratulates NCC chief

    The First Lady, Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan has congratulated the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Eugene Juwah on his election as the Chairman of Commonwealth Telecommunication Organisation (CTO). Juwah was elected at the CTO Forum and 54th Council Meeting in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

    In a letter signed by Ike Neliakuchukwu, Senior Special Assistant (Administration), Office of the First Lady, Dame Jonathan observed that “the Commonwealth has, once more, through this election demonstrated its confidence and goodwill, not only in you but in the Nigerian nation under the capable leadership of His Excellency, DrGoodluckEbele Jonathan, President Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    While wishing him a successful tenure of office as the ITU Child Online Champion, the First Lady expressed the belief that DrJuwah will use the opportunity to curtail the threat and challenge of child online security, as well as deepen a secured penetration of telecommunication access within the less privileged communities in the commonwealth.

  • Glo’s subscriber base hits 27.3m

    Glo’s subscriber base hits 27.3m

    The telecoms industry has become more competitive as operators jostle to outplay rivals by winning more customers and enlarging their subscriber base.

    National carrier, Globacom, has stepped up its game by overtaking Airtel as the second largest mobile service provider, a position the latter occupied previously.

    Glo added 2.8million new subscribers in just four months between February and June this year, upping its subscriber base to 27,327,646 and translating to 21 per cent share of the telecoms market to place second behind MTN, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) said in  its figures for the second quarter.

    Airtel, which briefly occupied the second position early this year, falls to the third place with 25,302,160 subscribers and 20 per cent market share. Etisalat retains the fourth position with 19,390,285 customers which represents 15 per cent share of the market.

    While Glo and Etisalat made gains between the last time NCC released subscriber figures in February, and now, MTN and Airtel recorded losses. The figures for the operators as at the end of February were 57,183,745 for MTN, 26,194,336 for Airtel, 24,490,650 for Glo and 18,119,397 for Etisalat.

    In effect, between end of February and June end, Glo added 2,836,996 new subscribers to its network, while Etisalat recorded 1,270,888 new customers. On the other hand, MTN lost 666,986 subscribers, while Airtel also lost 892,176 customers, the highest loss within the period.

    Glo also retained its position as the network with the second largest internet subscription in the country with 14.3million active subscriptions. MTN is in the first place with 34m, while Airtel and Etislat have 12million and 6.8million active internet subscriptions respectively.

    Industry sources believe that the massive network upgrade recently embarked upon by Glo and its bouquet of new service offerings may have given it the edge over other operators.

  • Telcos urge NCC to create spectrum market

    Telcos urge NCC to create spectrum market

    elecoms firms have urged the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to create a spectrum market where operators could buy and sell the scarce airwaves resource.

    Its umbrella body, the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), argued that since it is the practice in other climes, the NCC should look into the option as it will assist the agency in its pursuit of universal access goal.

    Its President, Lanre Ajayi, said before the regulator puts a cap on  the auctioning of spectrum in the 2.6 gigahertz (GHz) band or allow a single operator have it all, it should first consider giving freedom to operators to have a spectrum market.

    According to him, the matter has been agitating the minds of operators for a long time as the licensing guidelines of the regulator constrained this from happening.

    He said: “Before we can put in a cap or allow someone to have everything, there is one important thing that we will need to do. There is something that has been missing in the industry for a while that people are already asking for and I think the NCC should start thinking about. It is something like a spectrum market. If I have a spectrum today and I buy based on certain business plan and for some strange reason, my plans are not working as I already scheduled, I may choose to sell my spectrum to someone else.

    “Today, that is not possible by the provision of licence document. People are now asking for such leverage, for such market to be created, the spectrum market where I should be able to sell my spectrum to an operator that is ready to deploy immediately with it. If I have a national spectrum and I will be able to deploy to Lagos, Abuja , Port Harcourt and my spectrum covers Sokoto, Bornu, and there is someone in Bornu State that is willing to use this spectrum to deploy service, why can’t  I sell that my spectrum to him?

    “I could sell to someone in Bornu even at a premium. But now you have constrained the operators through the licence regulation that they cannot do that. I think that constraint should be removed; a spectrum market should be created.

    “This is happening in some markets or other countries. So, if that is available, then we may allow an operator o buy the whole 2.6GHz spectrum with the hope that if he is not able to deploy today, he could sell it some other time. If that is not in place, there will certainly not be (people holding licences without deploying them to use for a long time).

    Director, Spectrum Administration at NCC, Austin Nwaulune, promised that the regulator would look at the “spectrum trading option” being proposed by ATCON, adding that speculative buying of spectrum licences is one of the things that holding back the industry.

    “ATCON is advocating spectrum trading. That is something different. We are also looking at that too.  In Nigeria, we are very good at speculation and that has hindered it so far. So, until we determine how we do it, .it is not a way yet but we are looking at all the options,” Nwaulume said.

  • NCC seizes 20 containers of pirated products

    The Nigeria Copyright Commission (NCC) says it seized 5, 896, 644 units of various pirated foreign and Nigerian products valued at about N6.3 billion from January till date.

    The Director-General of NCC, Afam Ezekude, made this known at a training workshop organised for senior officers of Entertainment and Creative Services of Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation.

    Ezekude said that the commission also apprehended 403 suspected pirates in the period under review.

    “Since January till date, the commission has carried out 180 anti-piracy operations at different locations in the country.

    “This has resulted in the removal of 5,896,644 units of various pirated products valued over N6.3 billion with 403 suspected pirates apprehended,’’ Ezekude said.

    He said that the enforcement action was backed up with vigorous prosecution which resulted in the conviction of 53 copyrights infringers, while 172 cases were at various stages of trial.

    “Our ongoing anti-piracy campaign will continue to yield positive results, including the supports received from stakeholders,’’ he said.

    Ezekude said the commission was committed to putting in place policies and programmes that would create a conducive environment for creativity to thrive and to ensure profitable investments in the industry.

    The Minister of Tourism, Chief Edem Duke, commended NCC for its fight against piracy in the entertainment and creative industry.

    “It is on record that the issue of piracy has been drastically reduced by your spirited efforts,’’ Duke said.

    One of the resource persons, John Alewo, said the fight against piracy was a collective one, adding “my job is to catch a pirate and prosecute him,’’ Alewo said.

    Eunice Nweke, a participant, urged all stakeholders in the sector to join hands with the commission to address the menace.

     

  • Beyond impressive statistics

    Beyond impressive statistics

    •Telecom firms make wealth but leave a trail of complaints

    It is cheering that Nigeria’s telecoms sector has witnessed an exponential growth in investment   from a modest $500m at its inception in the country in 2001, to the over $32bn that it is today. It is equally cheering that the country today boasts 129 million active telephone subscribers, while over 50 million Nigerians have access to the Internet, compared to the 400,000 telephone lines in the country before the advent of the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM).

    According to Eugene Juwah, Executive Vice Chairman of the sector’s regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), “Already, the telecommunications industry that started from its humble beginning in 2001 with a paltry investment of $500m now stands at over $32billion.”

    The commission said it came about the figures during a recent anti-corruption interactive session with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Juwah added that the commission is a toast of foreign investors due to the international approval it has been able to get as a result of its operations. That is not all; the NCC said Nigeria has a tele-density of 92 per cent even as the telecommunications sector’s contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product has shot up from 4.5 per cent to 8.69 per cent in the recent re-based GDP.

    These no doubt are very impressive statistics. The issue however is whether the statistics have translated into high quality of service (QoS) for telephone subscribers. We are afraid the telecoms impressive statistics are like other posted statistics by government which are at variance with reality. The question of QoS has been a knotty one since the advent of GSM in Nigeria. Initially, Nigerians who had hitherto lamented the inefficiency of the Nigeria Telecommunications Ltd (NITEL) were ecstatic with the new experience that GSM offered: they could stay in the comfort of their rooms, shops or offices and make calls to anywhere in the world. This was quite an experience. But the euphoria began to die down when what telecoms subscribers initially regarded as teething problems that would disappear with time appear to have acquired the Nigerian character; they are here to stay.

    Without doubt, GSM has revolutionised the way we live, work and even play. It is incontestable too that things are far better today than they were in 2001 in the telecoms sector. Telephone tariff has dropped from N50 per minute in the early days of the GSM in the country; we now have per second billing engendered by competition, etc. Even at that, the telecoms firms are not giving Nigerians value for their money. Call drops, apparently due to congestion in the networks, are as rampant as ever, just as subscribers get billed for text messages that are either not delivered or delivered days after they were sent, among many other headaches faced by telephone subscribers.

    We understand some of the peculiar challenges faced by the telecoms firms, including power infrastructure, multiple taxation, the activities of vandals and ‘area boys’, etc. that constitute hindrances to their operations. But these and other challenges notwithstanding, the service providers still have to improve on their operations while the governments at all levels are also implored to address the issues. The telecoms operators can collaborate in some areas of their operations to reduce their overhead.

    The role of the NCC in ensuring that subscribers get value for their money is important. Its Act 2003 saddles it with promoting the provision of modern, universal, efficient, reliable, affordable and easily accessible communications services.

    We acknowledge the commission’s international approval, while this is important in the sector, local approval is also important. Indeed, it is what will ultimately confirm whatever international approval the commission might have garnered because the consumer is supposed to be king in all transactions. This cannot be said of the telecoms sector in Nigeria. It behooves the NCC to be more alive to its responsibilities in line with the expectations of the statute that created it.

     

  • Orji praises NCC’s role in telecom

    Abia State Governor Theodore Orji has praised the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) for doing a good job in regulating the activities of service providers in the country which has brought sanity in the industry.

    Speaking in Umuahia, when he received the chairman of Board of the NCC Engr. Peter Igho and his team at the Government house, Orji described communication as very essential arm of development in any society.

    Orji said that his administration is addressing some of the problems confronting the operations of the NCC including the issue of multiple taxation and right of way, adding that the state government has made relevant legislation as it concerns telecommunications operation in the state.

    The governor said his administration is poised to make the environment conducive for NCC and the service providers to operate and pledged to partner with the commission to continue in its sanitization programme in the industry.

    He implored the commission to provide more facilities to educational institutions in the state as a way of assisting the state government, adding that state government alone cannot carry the burden of financing the educational institutions in the state.

    Earlier in his speech, Mr. Igho explained that telecommunications contributes to 8.5 % of the nations GDP and has transformed the way of doing things in the country and made public that his commission is making effort to improve the quality of service to Nigerians.

    Mr. Igho said that Nigeria has 129 million active subscribers while over 50 million Nigerians have access to the internet, adding that the tele-density is 92% and still increasing almost on daily basis.

    He however identified multiple-taxation and hindering of the right of way and vandalisation of ICT facilities as some of the factors that militate against improved service, pointing out that the commission is currently pushing for a law to classify telecommunications facilities as critical infrastructure.

    The board chairman disclosed that NCC has given ICT equipment to 38 secondary schools in the state among other items given to tertiary institutions in Abia and appealed to the Governor to partner with his commission to improve the quality of service to the people.

    On the issue of the activities of the service provider, Igho said that NCC is a regulatory body regulating their activities, “So it is our duty to ensure that they give us correct quality services, so far the quality of service is not the best, but we are on it”.