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Tag: Umar Garba Danbatta

  • NCC okays N252.2m for research in varsities

    THE Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC) on Thursday said its research portfolio for research activities in the universities has reached over N252 .2 million.

    It said the fund was meant to promote technological innovation and boost local content in the information communication technology (ICT) and telecom industry.

    Its Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta dropped the hint while addressing Vice Chancellors of 61 universities at the Third Stakeholders Forum with Academia at the Transcorp Hotel, Abuja.

    Read Also: NCC marks 30 years anniversary

    Represented by the Director of New Media and Information Security, Eng. Haru Alhassan, he said the Commission only awarded one research grant in 2013 with minimal increase in subsequent years.

    “However, last year under my watch, the total number of research grants given increased to 11 from the previous year of seven awards in year 2017,” Danbatta added.

     

     

  • NCC chief to speak at ITU Telecom World 2019

    Global players in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry will converge in Budapest, Hungary on September 9 when the International Communication Union (ITU) hosts its yearly telecoms event, ‘ITU Telecom World 2019,’ at the Hung Expo, Budapest, Hungary.

    The event will be rounded off on September 12.

    The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC)/CEO of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, has been listed as one of the global ICT experts to speak at key fora during the four-day yearly gathering which is a global event for governments, corporates and Tech Small & Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs).

    Read Also: NCC approves spectrum for 5G trial

    Also named in this high profile forum list are Amanda Nelson, CEO, Vodafone Hungary, Adrian Lovett, President and CEO, Web Foundation, Helena Leurent, Director, Keng Thai Leong, Deputy CEO, Infocomm Singapore, and Ursula Owusu Ekuful, Ghana’s Minister of Communications.

    ITU is a specialised United Nations (UN) agency that coordinates telecommunications operations and services throughout the world.

    events since then, and was elected Council Member early in the year 2019 and will remain in coun

  • NCC to fund universities’ research to boost innovation

    The Nigeria Communication Commission said it has begun directing fund to encourage innovation by boosting research and development in universities across the country.
    It said Nigeria universities were making progress in Information and Communication Technology research and development.
    Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, stated this on Wednesday in Benin City at a round table with the Academia, Industry and other stakeholders in the South South.
    Prof. Danbatta said the Commission would make commitment to the success of the industry and also facilitate the contributions from academia as well as ensure sustainability and economic growth.
    Danbatta challenged the academia to study the impact of various practices and issues peculiar to the Nigerian operating environment on the operational efficiency, service delivery capability and performance by telecommunications  industry players.
    According to him, “The telecom industry has grown for the past 17 years and there is still room for further growth.
    “We want to stimulate research using the academia. We will look at those growth opportunities. This is more like opening an avenue for collaborative effort geared towards research that could grow the industry to the next level.

    Read Also: NCC set to improve telecom broadband

    “This is the first self step towards identifying those research topic and find a costing on what is required.”
    Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, Prof Faraday Orhumwense, said the academia was ready to help transform Nigeria from a consuming state to an industrial state.
    Represented by the Deputy VC, Administration, Prof. Jacob Ehiorobo, Orhumwense said the NCC has set the pace for the industry and the gown to collaborate.
    His words,  “The telecommunication industry is dominated  by foreigners. I think we should be able to train technical personnel  that should be able to function and produced spare parts for the country instead of relying on products from all over the world.
    “It is time we become self reliant in producing spare parts. We are changing the focus of our students not just on theoretical research but productive and adaptable research that will become of use to the industry.”
    Prof Eghosa Osaghae who delivered a lecture at the round table said the telecom industry should stop seeing the academia as simpy consumers and clients.

  • ICT key to national security – NCC Boss

    The Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communication Commission, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta has said that Internet and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are key to national security as both would continue to impact on transformation of the nation at various levels of the society and economy.

    Speaking as guest lecturer on the topic, ‘Leveraging ICT for enhanced national defence and security in Nigeria’, at the 17th Convocation lecture of the 66th Regular course and postgraduate students of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna, Danbatta said despite the slow start of internet and ICT usage in Nigeria, they  have been on the increase in the country.

    He noted that as at May 2018, the volume of communication, through voice technology in the country, it has reached 162 million active lines.

    He disclosed that the commission is working towards establishing a Cyber Security Incidence Response Team (CSIRT) exclusively for the telecommunication sector.

    Read Also: NCC intervenes in CBN’s cash refund order to MTN

    The CSIRT, he added, would also facilitate intervention, identification of threat and sharing of valuable information and resources to help in fortifying national security.

    “ICT infrastructure and systems are becoming very useful in producing intelligence information and reports that could be very essential and invaluable in the task of thwarting and combating crime.

    “The deployment of ICT infrastructure has transformed our society in spectacular ways by enabling profound social and economic transformation.

    “As at May 2018, the volume of communication through voice technology in Nigeria has reached 163 million active lines.

    “ICT is progressively influencing all aspects of our systems, institutions, processes and services, particularly in key sector such as education, finance, commerce, governance, security and health.

    “Also, the internet, a network of networks that depends on ICT infrastructure and systems, continues to grow at an exponential rate, bringing with it  new waves of transacting, communicating, learning, socializing, etc for the benefit of all,” he added.

  • NCC woos investors with 30% income tax reduction

    Regulator says sector attracts $5b quarterly FDI

     

    Nigeria’s telecoms sector regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Tuesday said prospective investors into the telecoms sector would only need to pay 30 per cent of income tax, among other mouth-watering incentives rolled out by the Federal Government.

    The regulator also said the telecoms sector which attracted $70 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) last year, has been adding between $4 billion and $5billoon quarterly in FDI since the beginning of this year.

    Its Executive Vice-Chairman/CEO, Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, who unveiled the packages to prospective investors who thronged the Nigeria Pavilion during its opening at the ongoing International Telecoms Union (ITU) Telecom World in Durban, South Africa,  said investors stood to enjoy pioneer status as well as import duty waivers on essential equipment needed for them to setup businesses in the telecoms sector.

    He said the Executive Order of the Federal Government laid special emphasis on transparency in the discharge of official responsibility.

    According to Prof Dambatta, with a huge youthful population ever ready to communicate, investors needed not fear about quick returns on investment (RoI). He said the steady growth of telecoms sector’s contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) now at 10.5 per cent bore eloquent testimony to resilience of the sector.  He said the non-oil sector has been growing the GDP in line with Federal Government’s Economic diversification blueprint, adding the telecoms sector has been taking the lead in this area.

    He said opportunities for investment are available in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the industry, stating while voice appears not to be doing badly, data is the next investment frontier.

    Read Also: NCC, CBN may clampdown on electronic fraudsters

    He said ITU forum usually provideo opportunity to learn about new technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) and other new technologies.

    He said: “We also come to share our experiences and take home new ideas in global best practices that will assist us to strengthen our regulatory processes and interventions that will make the accelerated growth of telecommunications to dovetail into a better and stronger economy.

    “In our modest quest to bridge the digital divide, the board of the NCC has put in place initiatives to fast track internet access and taking services to several unserved and underserved areas of Nigeria

    “Although we have 162.3million active subscribers on our various networks, we at NCC believe there is much left to be done in terms of improvement of Quality of Service (QoS), more access to as many people as possible.

    “We must admit that the QoS is not where we want it to be yet, but with time and increase of infrastructure deployment, we should be there soonest than later,”Dambatta said.

    He recalled that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo launched the ICT Roadmap in the country, stressing that driving broadband penetration for accelerated economic growth formed the kernel of the roadmap.

    “With a population of 180million, active subscriber base of over 160million and internet penetration of over 100 million, Nigeria remains an attractive country for investors who crave for adequate RoIs.

    “While we celebrate the seemingly success story recorded in these directions, the NCC has put in place incentives for Infrastructure Companies (Infracos) in order to encourage speedy deployment of infrastructure that will deepen broadband penetration as quickly as possible.

    “This is part of the roadmap to take Nigeria to the next level under the Open Access Model template.  So far, six Infraco licences have been issued to cover Lagos, Northeast, Northwest, South South, Southwest and Southeast zones of the country. Arrangements are underway to re-licence the North Central zone,” he said.

    The Commission had earlier assigned 2.3GHz licence to Bitflux Consortium and six of the 14 slots available on 2.6GHz to MTN Nigeria and two slots to Openskys.  Six slots are still available for assignment.

    “We undertook these regulatory steps in line with the National Broadband Plan (NBP of 2013-2018) where it is anticipated that 30 per cent penetration will be attained, by the turn of 2018,” he said.

    Nigeria had a mere five per cent penetration of broadband in 2012 but now has 22 per cent and hopes to hit the 30 per cent prescribed by NBP (2013 – 2018) by December, 2018 through various initiatives including granting subsidies to Infraco licencees, Spectrum Trading among others.

    He said in line with the Commission’s initiatives to encourage investors for Infracos to roll out, it has created provisions in its 2017 and 2018 budgets as subsidies to the Infracos.

    “This is essentially to be disbursed piecemeal to the InfraCos as the deployment of their infrastructure progresses.  “We have assured all the licencees that this subsidy is based on the implementation/milestones of their roll out obligations,” he said.

    He told the investors thatb there are also opportunities for investors in digital transmission system including microwave, satellite and optic fibre; submarine cable communications; digital exchanges for both wired and wireless lines; billing systems; data communications networks; broadband and  Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN).

    Nigeria, he said needs 120,000km metropolitan optic fibre coverage for ubiquitous network connections nationwide.  With only 38,000km coverage now, this area also beckons on both foreign and local investors, he said.

  • 9Mobile: No cause for alarm on acquisition – NCC

    The Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC) has said that there is no cause for alarm regarding the sale of 9Mobile as the preferred bidder, Teleology Nigeria Ltd, make efforts to meet the deadline on payment for its acquisition.

    Its Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta made this known in Abuja shortly after receiving an award from representatives of African Achievers Award ( AAA) who presented the EVC an Award of Excellence at the Commission’s Headquarters.

    Prof Danbatta said a meeting would be held during the week among all the stakeholders, especially Teleology promoters, the NCC and the CBN and other parties.

    He however declined to give details of the meeting, saying he would not like to pre-empt discussions at the meeting.

    He also stated that as part of its effort to promote youth participation in ICT, the commission would deploy ICT tools, to tertiary institutions across the federation to help in facilitating research and development in the country.

    Prof. Danbatta noted that the Digital Association Programme for Tertiary Institutions is one of its interventions to build human capacity in the universities.

    Read Also: NCC withdraws 36 million redundant lines

    According to him, “We are deploying information and communication technology in key sectors of the economy including education, in order to encourage informed learning and teaching”.

    The EVC said the programme was aimed at educating students on how to leverage the power of information in content delivery in the university.

    “This is consistent with the digital transformation that is going on all over the world and Nigeria cannot be an exception.

    According to him the commission had made several efforts to protect Nigerians from being shorted changed, adding that the efforts had helped to transform the telecom industry in the country.

    Speaking on the award, Prof Danbatta said the basis for the recognition is on the way the organization has empowered and protected the consumer with its eight point agenda which is all about empowering and protecting the consumer.

    Earlier, the Principal Partner, African Achievers Award Mr. Rex Idaminabo said the award was aimed at encouraging them to do more especially by using the ICT platforms to ensure job creation and economic development.

  • NCC withdraws 36 million redundant subscribers lines

    The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, said on Thursday that about 36 million redundant lines of subscribers have been withdrawn in the past few months so as to give room for effective management of telecom facilities.

    Its Executive Vice Chairman Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta said the lines had to be withdrawn because “we do not have time to allow resources to waste. The intention is to ensure that all resources at our disposal, number resources, spectrum resources are put into god use and benefit of this country”.

    Prof. Danbatta who spoke with Journalists shortly after declaring open the 84th Edition of Telecom Consumer Parliament at the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Conference Centre, Abuja, noted that the NCC would continue to play its regulatory roles for the growth and development of the industry.

    He said: “Those are lines that are redundant. We always give statistics about active lines. We have noticed that the teledensity is growing, steadily growing for 6-7 months and has exceeded 150million mark now.

    “It is expected of NCC that resources that are not being put into use are withdrawn so that this can in turn be a sign to all operators so that they can put them in good use and activate them.”

    Prof. Danbatta also said the NCC was doing everything possible to bridge the 198 telecom access gap which translates to about 40 million people especially those in rural areas not having access to mobile phone usage.

    According to him NCC in conjunction with industrial players is deploying a modern technology solution in three locations to tackle the problem headlong instead of following the present mechanism which would take over 20 years to achieve.

    He said NCC besides approving a wide range of palliatives to improve availability, accessibility, and affordability of telecom services to consumers, has gone some step further to partner with some stakeholders on the deployment infrastructures for the good of the industry.

    Read Also: NCC: SMEs, innovators, others are growth engines

    Prof. Danbatta said: “The NCC in partnership with stakeholders deployed base  transceivers to stations in those areas that do not have access in order to bridge access gaps. We are doing this at the rate of about 10 per annum,  and going by the number of access gaps,  it is going to take the NCC close to 20 years to close all access gaps.

    “The rural population does not have the time to wait, they are not going to be patient for 20 years without access to telecommunication services. Therefore, there is need to find ingenious ways to  close these gaps within shortest period of time.  And fortunately, technology  presents itself  with various options in solving this problem in shorter time.

    “There is a Rural Technology Solution which we have deployed through a pilot scheme in about three locations in the country and we are very happy about the outcome of this pilot deployment.

    “In partnership with those in possession of these technology here in Nigeria, to reciprocate the deployment beyond the pilot, so that we can close those access gaps and then see what happens.  But by my estimation, we can through rural technology solution bridge the gaps in about 3-4 years.

    “When you want to bridge gaps, you have to have spectrum and of course the spectrum belong to operators, we are leveraging this important resource to facilitating partnership between the owners of the solution with the operators and NCC is right there ensuing that the partnership becomes operative.

    “I am happy to report that most of the operators are disposed to this as well as the owners of the technology solutions.”

    Prof Danbatta said the Telecoms Consumer Parliament (TCP) is one of the robust platforms designed by the Commission to facilitate interaction on issues of common interest,  and therefore urged industrial players as well as consumers to take advantage of it.

  • $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.

  • 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.