The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Tony Ojobo

  • NCC plans to extend telecoms services next year

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said on Friday provisions have been made in its 2017 budget to extend telecommunications services to additional 40 million people across the country.

    The Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Dambatta, made this known in Lagos during a sensitization workshop organised by NCC for law enforcement agencies on telecommunications matters.

    Dambatta, represented by the Director of Public Affairs, NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, said the commission had conducted a survey, which identified about 200 communities nationwide with access gap.

    He said through the Universal Service Provision Fund (ISPF) being managed by a department under NCC, 40 million people in these areas would be covered in 2017.

    According to him, the empirical studies have shown correlation between usage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and social development.

    “As you are aware, the growth witnessed in the telecommunications sector in the last 15 years has been phenomenal by all standards, “the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted the NCC chief as saying at the forum.

    “From less than half a million lines on the eve of our democratic revival, today, active connected telephone lines are about 150 million, which has come with a contributing increase in tele-density.

    “Development in other sectors of the economy had been shaped positively and measurably by the potent realities in the telecommunications sectors.

    “We look forward to seeing greater development in the sector, because we are irrevocably committed to full implementation of the National Broadband Plan.”

  • MTN N1.04 trn: Ministers Shun Reps meeting

    MTN N1.04 trn: Ministers Shun Reps meeting

    The efforts of the Hon. Saheed Fijabi- headed House Committee on Communications to unravel the reasons for the huge reduction of the N1.04 trillion to N330 billion did not yield dividends yesterday.

    Two ministers important to the investigation, the Minster for Communications, Adebayo Shittu and the Minister for Justice and Attorney- General of the Federation were conspicuously absent at the fact- finding session, effectively truncating the session.

    Only the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Mr. Abubakar Dambata and his Director of Communications, Tony Ojobo were present at the session. This is the fifth meeting on the fine issue, without any resolution.

    Fijabi told the meeting that the Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami sent a letter that he would be representing the President at an event in Lagos and would therefore be absent from the meeting.

    The Minister for Communication, Adebayo Shittu did not appear at the session as at the time the closed- door session began, even though he was said to be expected.

    Fijabi expressed his disappointment on the issue wondering why the huge reduction on the fine from N1. 04 trillion to N330 billion came to be.

    He said the condition attached to the reduction that MTN trades on the Nigerian Stock Market ” is a business benefit to MTN.”

    He further observes:  “I don’t think NCC alone can face the questions. This is going to be the last meeting as the parties are not here.”

    The lawmaker said the committee would go ahead with the writing of its report and subsequently submit it to the House.

    The meeting then dissolved into a closed- door meeting .

    An MTN source told The Nation that they were not invited for the meeting, “only Government people were invited,” she said.

    Recall that the Reps committee had rejected the offer of the service provider MTN to pay N330bn instead of the N1.04 trillion it was fined by the Federal Government.

    The chairman of the Committee. Saheed Fijabi had wondered why the sudden shift in the position of the NCC on the MTN fine

    NCC had in a March 1 2016 memo said: ” The proposal to pay the sum of N300 billion as against the N1.04 trillion ( and subsequently reduced to N700 billion by the Federal Government of Nigeria “FGN”) is not supported by any verifiable justification.”

    However, efforts by the committee to investigate the reason for the huge reduction has been hampered by the absence of one government official or the other at the different meetings it had called on the issue.

    At a previous meeting the committee chair had noted that it was wrong to accept a reduction while the House was investigating the ongoing negotiations between the Federal Government and MTN on the fine.

    He had said “As a House, we have opposed the reduction of the fine because there is no provision in the NCC’s Act that the fine can be reduced. In fact, section 21 of the Act stipulates that even the CEO of a defaulting firm can be made to pay additional fine of over N200,000 on each of the lines.”

    The lawmaker had said ordinarily, MTN’s total fine “should be doubled to about N3 trillion and not even the N1.4 trillion they were asked to pay.”

     

  • NCC cautions subscribers on use of its Facebook page

    NCC cautions subscribers on use of its Facebook page

    Mr Tony Ojobo, the Director, Public Affairs of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Wednesday cautioned telecommunications subscribers on the use of the commission’s Facebook page.

    Ojobo said in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that some followers of the page had turned it into an advertising platform.

    It, however, urged them to review and adhere to the page’s moderation policy, when posting comments.

    According to the statement, posting comments that repeatedly violate the moderation policy may result in the follower’s account being banned from the regulatory body’s page.

    It said that the NCC encouraged comments that contributed to friendly and intelligent discussion on its activities, programmes and the telecommunications industry in Nigeria, for all visitors.

    The statement added that responses to inquiries would be attended to within 48 hours.

    “We aim to respond to direct questions in a timely manner; however, we cannot guarantee response to all questions and comments.

    “When posting comments, please review and adhere to the moderation policy. Comments and Posts containing advertisements and /or spam may be deleted.

    “Our wall is not to be utilised as a free advertising space for your business. Do not solicit links for personal blogs and website spam (posting the same comment over and over again).

    “Abusive language towards fellow commentators, deliberately provoking other commentators or the Nigeria Communications Commission Staff will not be accepted any longer.

    “Aggressive, insulting, profane or overly negative comments, topics that do not relate to the discussion at hand, may be deleted.

    “Posting comments that repeatedly violate the moderation policy may result in your account being banned from our page,” it quoted Ojobo as saying.

    The statement urged the page followers to report to the moderators, comments that might violate the moderation policy, by clicking ”X” in the top right of the comment box and clicking ”Report as Abuse”.

    It said that the telecommunications umpire strived to make its Facebook page a positive environment, and reserved the right to update the moderation policy as needed.

    The statement said that the commission valued its followers’ opinions, as it encouraged them to continue contributing to the discussions.

     

  • MTN gets ultimatum to pay $5.2b fine

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has given MTN Group two weeks to pay a $5.2 billion fine imposed on the mobile phone company for failure to cut off users with unregistered SIM cards.

    NCC spokesman, Tony Ojobo, told Reuters that MTN had until November 16 to make the payment, but the two sides were in talks to resolve the matter.

    “The outcome of the discussion may affect the date. That’s why they are having the discussion so that they can reach a solution,” Ojobo said.

    The Presidency and internal security agency were also involved in the talks, a regulatory source told Reuters.

    The NCC imposed the penalty on Monday, hitting Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator’s stock price.

    Nigeria is MTN’s biggest market by subscribers.

    Some analysts have said the size of the fine risked damaging Nigeria’s efforts to shake off an image as a risky frontier market for international investors.

    MTN had said on Monday the NCC imposed the fine for failing to disconnect subscribers with unregistered or incomplete SIM cards, under a directive given to all network operators which the regulator said only MTN had failed to comply with.

  • ‘Buhari will determine NCC chief’s fate’

    ‘Buhari will determine NCC chief’s fate’

    Stakeholders in the telecommunication industry will have to hold their breath regarding the tenure of the Executive Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah, until President Muhammadu Buhari takes a decision on the matter.

    NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Mr. Tony Ojobo, said on Thursday that Juwah’s fate will be determined by the government.

    Juwah’s first tenure as the NCC boss ended on July 28.

    Ojobo, who declined to confirm whether the NCC boss has resumed work following the expiration of his first tenure, told The Nation that he has no information on the matter for now.

    “I will get back to you once I get any information on the matter,” he said.

     

  • No extension for SIM card registration, says NCC

    No extension for SIM card registration, says NCC

    •Orders disconnection of erring subscribers

    Regulator of the telecoms sector, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), yesterday insisted that there will be no extension to the Sunday, June 30 deadline placed on the nationwide subscriber identification module (SIM) cards.

    The commission maintained that the action is in the interest of national security.

    It noted that a directive to effect massive disconnection of all unregistered line on the network had been conveyed to the operators yesterday.

    Director, Public Affairs of NCC, Tony Ojobo, told The Nation that any subscriber who could not register his or her SIM card for 27 months deserve to lose the line.

    Ojobo explained that there was a deeper interest in SIM card registration as unscrupulous elements were hiding under the anonymity they enjoyed with unregistered but active SIM cards to unleash terror on their fellow human beings.

    “There shall be no extension to SIM card registration in the country. The exercise was supposed to end in April but the operators pleaded for more time. It was granted. Now they are asking for more time. The NCC would not acquiesce to such demand. SIM card registration has gone on for 27 months. If within these months, any subscriber could not go and do his or her SIM registration, such a subscriber deserves to lose such line,” Ojobo said.

    He noted that the operators tried through text messages, codes and other forms to sensitise their subscribers on the need to register their SIM cards, lamenting that some subscribers ignored the messages.

    He said any operator who failed to provide short codes to its subscribers to enable them (subscribers) know their SIM card registration update must lose those subscribers.

    “What people don’t seem to understand is that there is a security dimension to SIM card registration. Therefore, it cannot continue to go indefinitely. It has to end. The more you extend it, the more you create opportunity for unscrupulous elements to commit terror against the nation. The national security dimension is usually not played up because security matters are usually not discussed on the pages of national dailies. So, SIM card registration must end and those unregistered SIMs deactivated from the networks,” Ojob said.

    The operators, acting under the aegis of Association of Licensed Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ALTON) had in a letter dated June 28 addressed to the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NCC, Dr Eugene Juwah, pleaded with the regulator to extend the exercise that commenced on March 28, 2011.

    Signed by its Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, the operators craved the regulator’s indulgence to extend the exercise by another three months, citing recent security challenges in some parts of the country that has had taken a toll on people’s movement and livelihood.

    National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS), also asked for an extension. President of the group, Deolu Ogunbanjo, said that if the NCC acquiesced to the group’s demand, more subscribers will not lose their SIM cards to disconnection for no errors of theirs.

    Ojobo however, said there is still a window of opportunity for any subscriber that fall victim of the disconnection. According to him, what they (subscribers) will lose is the old line while they could still buy new SIM cards, register them and continue to enjoy the dividend of the revolution.