Danbatta said this at the virtual launch/award ceremony of the COVID-19 Research Grant presented to three startups by the NCC on Tuesday in Abuja.

He further explained that internet subscription in the same period increased from 126 million to 147.1 million, while broadband subscription also increased from 72 million to 80.2 million, achieving a 42.02 per cent penetration in the country.

Danbatta explained that the startups participated in a 3-month virtual hackathon with the theme Virtual Hackathon: “Adaptable Digital Solutions for Addressing the Present and Future Impact of Pandemic and Epidemic Diseases from Technology Hubs, Startups and Innovation Digital SMEs in Nigeria”.

“These may have given impetus to the possibility of holding virtual meetings and conferences on video technologies that are now providing social distancing solutions.

“So, in whichever way we look at it, telecommunication has much more greater role to play than many other sectors of economy and the society.

“Therefore, the challenge is for us to find a way to accentuate our local content solution, which is a blessing to us. We are pleased with the responses that we received on this initiative,” he said.

Danbatta said that the NCC, has in the past two years managed similar ICT-based innovations and research competitions among tertiary institutions in the country, with potentials of improving local content solutions in the industry.

“We should be bold enough as a country in adopting indigenous solutions. We must adopt and consume them. There should be less attention on imported goods.

“It is evident that the entire globe is challenged about how best to tackle this pandemic. Telecommunications and ICTs have taken the centre stage in the provision or advancement of solutions.

“We will all witness what digital solutions that today’s winners are going to bring to the table. Each of the Startups, or tech-hubs with promising innovative digital solutions against the pandemic will receive a grant of N3 million.

“We have encouraged ICT innovations among the Nigerian youths whom we have regularly sponsored to various competitions organised by the International Telecommunications Union,” Danbatta said.

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, who presented a N9m COVID-19 research grants to the three promising startups, stressed that there was the need to adopt indigenous solutions to challenges in the country.

Pantami also encouraged individuals to consume what the country produced and pay less attention to imported goods. “We need to produce what we need and consume what we produce, any country that remains a consumer nation will find it difficult to succeed,” he said.

NCC Director of Research and Development, Dr Henry Nkemadu, said that there was the need to harness the potentials of technologies in order to address societal challenges and meet up to standard.

Nkemadu explained that the Hackathon was designed to engage the startups to compete in a healthy manner to improve innovations.

He noted that 298 submissions were received from startups of, which 56 qualified for the final stage of the evaluation process based on the selection criteria and later came up with three winners.

“It is a national aspiration to spice some of these technologies with local content as a way of improving availability of local manpower and advancing ICT skills.

“Technology has provided solutions to the challenge of weak public systems by providing solutions to the most challenges in education, health, financial and agricultural sectors,” he said.

Each of the Startups, or tech-hubs with promising innovative digital solutions against the pandemic will receive a grant of N3 million

The three winners included-Messers Primed E-Health, Messers Cyberfleet Intergrated Limited and Messers Elizade University.

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Airtel currently has 123,327 subscribers more than Globacom that has occupied the position for years.

In total, there are now 174,668,626 active GSM lines in the country.

In the month under review, MTN gained 1,379 new subscribers with another 118,442 subscribers from Visafone, a CDMA network it acquired.

Globacom gained 118,087 new subscribers to reach a total of 46,713,068 GSM users while 9mobile was the only operator that lost subscribers.

It lost 225,283 subscribers, dropping to 15,739,967 mobile users.

In terms of market share, MTN retains the largest share of the market at 37.43% with Airtel at 26.81%.

Globacom holds 26.74% share of the market while 9mobile holds 9.01%.

The total number of subscribers on the two Voice over Internet Protocol networks (VoIP) increased from 165,333 users in June to 172,111 active users in July.

Smile Communications network added 6,543 users to stand at 167,555 customers while Ntel added 235 users to stand at 4,556 subscribers.

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According to a statement signed by Garba Shehu, senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Adeleke Moronfolu Adewolu was appointed to replace Dare at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Adewolu is a member of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), a party employed by former governor Ibikunle Amosun, to rival the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the state at the governorship poll.

“Sen. Basheer Garba Mohammed has been appointed Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons. He replaces Sadiya Umar Farouk,” the statement read.

“Dr. Chioma Ejikeme has been appointed Executive Secretary, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate, replacing Sharon O. Ikeazor, while Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi is now Director General/CEO, National Information Technology Development Agency.

“For Executive Commissioner (Stakeholder Management) Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), President Buhari has forwarded Adeleke Moronfolu Adewolu’s name to the Senate for confirmation as replacement for Sunday Akin Dare.”

The appointments take effect, immediately.

Amosun’s APM lost the guber poll to Dapo Abiodun of the APC.

Adewolu was special assistant to former senate president Ken Nnamani, on legal and legislative matters (2005-2007) and commissioner in Amosun’s cabinet.

Up until his appointment at NCC, Sunday Dare was a spokesperson for Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the APC.

The post Buhari appoints Amosun’s ally to replace Sunday Dare at NCC appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.

Dare, who was screened by the Senate as a ministerial nominee of President Muhammadu Buhari, stated that the spate of kidnapping in the country was worrisome.

“The issue of kidnapping worries us, not just as regulators but also as citizens of this country and we have watched across the country how we have seen a spike in the level of kidnapping.

“The starting point really is that to arrest kidnapping, it is a collaborative effort because the NCC as a regulator, without making any excuses, does not have prosecutorial powers.

“But we do have what we call the sim registration database, a database inclusive of 172 million subscribers in this country. It is expected to have every SIM card registered with the necessary information and data — biometrics as the case may be.”

According to him, the operators collect the information and pass the data on to the regulator, which begins a process of verification, otherwise known as scrubbing.

Dare explained that, very often, the NCC finds that the biometrics are not done properly, certain fields of the registration forms are missing, and in most cases, the pictures used are fuzzy.

He said, “So, we have been able to work on that process. In the last three years, we have been able to work with NIMC. They have the equipment and the software to scrub this data and get them back to the NCC. This is still ongoing.

“We have done well over 50 million and the process is a bit tedious because it’s dealing with technology but it’s being speeded up. But it’s important to make the point that we have captured at least 85 per cent of every SIM card in this country, in terms of registration.

“Every SIM card in use is connected to the network. So, yes, it is possible to trace the kidnappers — but until kidnapping occurs; until that phone call is made, there is no real-time surveillance or software to be able to monitor 172 million lines round the clock.”

Dare noted that, through collaborative efforts with the office of National Security Adviser, the Department of State Services and the police, the NCC has had telephone numbers brought to its attention immediately.

He added, “The NCC had gone ahead on several occasions to query the database we have and the database the MNOs, like MTN and Glo, have and we have been able to extract the needed information, pass the information in real-time to the DSS and security agencies and we have had several apprehensions.

“It is difficult for me to disclose the process of triangulation and the other processes that ONSA and the rest go through but I know that we are working towards creating a more robust system, leveraging on technology.

We have a number of proof of concepts because we are trying to benchmark and see what other countries have done in order to reduce the crime of kidnapping as we have it in our country.”

The post Why we can’t prevent kidnapping using SIM tracking, says Ministerial nominee, Dare appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.

This completes MTN’s payment of the N330 billion negotiated settlement agreed between the NCC and the company in 2016.

According to Tobechukwu Okigbo, MTN’s chief corporate relations officer, the successful resolution of the fine was the outcome of active collaboration between the NCC and MTN.

“We are very pleased to have completed the payment of the N330 billion negotiated settlement with the NCC,” he said.

“We are particularly gratified to be in a position to have fully met the terms of the settlement within the agreed timeframes.

“I would like to thank the NCC for their constructive and collaborative approach to this issue, and believe that we emerge from it with a stronger relationship, focused on ensuring maximum value is delivered to our people, from a strong and growing telecoms sector.”

In October 2015, the regulator slammed MTN a fine of N1.04 trillion following failure to cut off five million unregistered subscribers after a deadline set by NCC, in agreement with major telcos in the country.

The fine was eventually reduced to N330 billion with a condition that MTN will list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) — a condition that has now been met by the telco.

In a statement last week, NCC disclosed that MTN had paid N275 billion and had N55 billion to go, with nine days left on the clock.

“Following a negotiated reduction of the N1.04 trillion fine on MTN Nigeria to N330 billion and in line with the staggered payment arrangement, MTN has, so far, paid N275 billion to the Federal Government,” NCC had said.

“What this means, according to the staggered arrangement, is that May 31, 2019 would be the deadline for the telecoms company to pay the sixth and final tranche of the balance of N55 billion.”

As at the time this report was filed, the NCC had not yet acknowledged to the press, the receipt of the final payment.

The post MTN pays final N55bn to complete N330bn NCC fine appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.

According to The Nation, Binta Nyako, the judge, in a ruling, invalidated all moves taken with respect to the exchange of ownership of Etisalat.

“Any action that has been taken concerning the rest of this litigation from the 25th day of April, which is earlier in time, should revert to the position, as of the res, to its 25th day of April 2018,” the judge said.

The ruling, dated April 1, 2019, was in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/288/2018 filed on April 6, 2018, by Afdin Ventures Limited and Dirbia Nigeria Limited, the two major investors in Etisalat.

The two major investors — with investments estimated at $43,033,950 — had sued Etisalat to retrieve their investments following their exclusion from the decision making process of the firm.

The plaintiffs had said they met the court to void the sale of Etisalat, upon learning that the defendants have proceeded to conclude the transfer of the company’s ownership despite earlier restraining orders.

“In 2009, the plaintiffs/applicants purchased a total of 4,303,391 class “A” shares from the 1st, 2nd and 5th defendants (Karlingtton, Premium Telecommunication and Etisalat International) at the rate of $43,033,950 only, and were issued with share certificates,” they said in a supporting affidavit to the motion dated November 16, 2018.

“In 2010, the defendants rebranded Etisalat Nigeria Limited to 9mobile and entered into negotiations with Smile.com and Glo Network to transfer its licence without recourse to the plaintiffs.

“When the plaintiffs became aware of the purported transaction, they filed this suit along with two applications namely: motion ex-parte and motion on notice, seeking for an order of injunction to restrain the defendants from going ahead with the transaction.

“When this suit came up for hearing on the 17th of April, 2018, this honourable court ordered parties to maintain status quo-pending the determination of the motion on notice.”

Defendants in the suit are: Karington Telecommunication Ltd, Premium Telecommunications Holdings NV, First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Etisalat International Nigeria Ltd and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Teleology formally took over the management of 9mobile following the issuance of the final approval of no objection by the board of the NCC on November 12, 2018.

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Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, gave the figure at a breakfast meeting with editors and Bureau Chiefs of media houses, in Abuja, Thursday. He also said internet subscription base, as at end of last month, stood at 109 million, up from 107 million in October.

“As at November 2018, the active voice subscribers’ base grew from 165 million in October 2018 to 169 million. Millicom loses mobile services in Africa If you want to give the percentage of penetration, you have to reflect the reality of what the population is and I think from 2019, we are going to start using the figure of 190 million to give the statistics in percentage point but for now, we will give you the actual statistics. The internet subscription grew equally from 107million in October 2018 to 109 million in November.”

Danbatta added that the Commission, in the period under review, exceeded the broadband target it set as part of its eight-point agenda. He stated further: “As at November 2018, we have a total of almost 59 million Nigerians who have subscribed to broadband services in different part of the country. Therefore the broadband penetration, using a percentage point based on population of 190 million estimates is 30.9 per cent. We set a target of 30 per cent, which means we have exceeded the target by 0.9 per cent.”

The NCC boss added that for the purpose of evaluation, the Commission would commence monthly update of its key performance indicators starting from December this year; a development he said, would continue through 2019. The telecom sector, he said, has been playing a huge part in the growth of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) even as he stated that the sector has contributed about N5 trillion to the nation’s economy between the first and third quarters of the year.

“We normally wait until the nation gives us statistics indicating the performance of the economy for us to do few calculations and one was done recently which shows that the contribution to GDP from telecommunication and other information services, up to the 3rd quarter of 2018, is almost N5 trillion and this is according to the figure released by National Bureau of Statistics, NBS.”

Giving a breakdown of this sum, Danbatta put the quarterly telecom contribution at between N1.4 trillion to N1.5 trillion; an amount that translates to $45 billion, at an exchange of N360 to a dollar.

The post Nigeria’s active telephone subscription hits 169m appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.

In a statement signed by Mohammed Edewor, Teleology said it “is pleased to announce the constitution of a new Board of Directors for Nigeria’s multi-award-winning telecommunication company, 9mobile”.

This follows “the successful completion of the tenure of the former Board appointed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and in fulfillment of the consequential transfer of final ownership to the new investors, Teleology Nigeria Limited”.

“We thank all out-going members of the Board for helping to shepherd 9mobile through the critical transition phase it has passed through since July 2017 and wish them the very best in their future assignments.

“For us, the composition of the new Board of Directors is another significant milestone, and this follows the issuance of final approval of no objection by the Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to the effect that the technical and financial bids Teleology submitted for 9mobile met and satisfied all the regulatory requirements.

“This is indeed the dawn of a new era in the evolution of the 9mobile brand in the Nigerian market”.

The new board of directors is constituted by Nasiru Ado Bayero (Chairman); Asega Aliga (Non Executive Director); Adrian Wood (Non Executive Director); Mohammed Edewor (Non Executive Director); Winston Ndubueze Udeh (Non Executive Director)
Abdulrahman Ado (Executive Director) and Stephane Beuvelet (Acting Managing Director).

Nasiru Ado Bayero, the new chairman, appreciated the telco’s employees and subscribers, who is said should be prepared for best-in-class services forthwith.

“As we begin this new epochal phase, we wish to thank all the employees who built this viable business,” Ade Bayero said.

“Our debt of gratitude also goes to our subscribers even as we assure them to get ready for real best-in-class additional value for their relationship with the 9mobile brand.

“Without you, there could not have been a 9mobile business for us to invest in today. We will justify your confidence in our brand by making significant investments that will improve the value you get for using 9mobile.”

The sale process of 9mobile was initially billed to be concluded on January 16, 2018, following an approval of the extension of the deadline by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) after an initial December 2017 deadline.

Teleology eventually won the final bid, ahead of Airtel, Globacom, Smile, Helios.

The company, 9mobile, formerly known as Etisalat Nigeria was taken over in July 2017 following a N541 billion debt overhang.

The post Teleology finally takes over 9mobile, names new board appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.

It said in its monthly subscriber’s operator data posted on its website on Wednesday that the active mobile lines at the end of July decreased to 161.42 million from the 162.30 million in June.

NCC said with 161.42 million lines recorded in July and 162.30 million in June, the lines decreased by 881,586.

Also the Mobile Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) for active mobile lines in July was 125,444 as against 217,566 in June, a decrease of 92,122.

The report said the number of fixed wired/wireless for active mobile lines in July was 140,582 compared to June, which had 140,627 lines, indicating a decrease of 45 lines.

According to NCC, the number of Voice-Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) was 101,131 in July compared with 97,941 recorded in June, recording an increase of 3,190.
It also revealed that Teledensity reduced by 0.69 in July to 115.57 as against 116.26 in June.

Teledensity is the number of telephone connections for every 100 individuals living within an area and it varies widely across the country.

NCC also said the number of connected lines in July stood at 238.21 million as against 239.33 million in June, a decrease of 1.12 million.

The CDMA for connected lines for July was 246,126 as against 3.58 million in June, a decrease of 3.33 million, the subscribers’ data revealed.

The report said the number of fixed wired/wireless for connected lines in July was 350,998 compared to June that had 350,644, an increase of 354 lines.

It also showed that the number of VOIP for connected lines in July was 667,763 as against 642,734 in June rising by 25,029 lines.

The post Active mobile lines decrease to 161.4m in July – NCC appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.

This is coming barely a week after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) demanded a refund of $8.1 billion it sold to the telecoms giant between 2007 and 2015 as dividends to offshore shareholders.

In 2015, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) fined MTN N780 billion — later reduced to N330 billion — for failing to disconnect unregistered subscribers.

The AGF said his office made a “high-level calculation” that MTN should have paid approximately $2 billion in taxes relating to the importation of foreign equipment and payments to foreign suppliers since 2008.

He requested MTN to do a self-assessment of the taxes.

MTN, in its response, did initial assessment showing that total payments already made to the tax authorities in regard to these foreign imports and transfers are $700 million.

It told the AGF that there were valid reasons for the differences between the actual payments and government’s assessment.

However, Malami has rejected the assessment and asked MTN to pay the $2 billion in full.

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