Tag: NCC

By Joyce Remi-Babayeju

The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has announced the temporary suspension of insurance of three categories of Telecoms licenses.

A statement from the NCC explained that under the Nigerian Communications Act, NCA, (2003) mandate to grant and renew licences, promote fair competition and develop the Communications Industry, the Commission hereby informs all stakeholders of a temporary suspension on issuance of new licences in three categories namely , Interconnect Exchange Licence; Mobile Virtual Network Operator Licence and Value Added Service Aggregator Licence.
The Commission stated, “This temporary suspension is necessary to enable the Commission to conduct a thorough review of several key areas within these categories, including the current level of competition, market saturation and current market dynamics.”

The public is invited to note that during the suspension period commencing on 17th of May, 2024, new applications for the aforementioned licences will not be accepted.

This is without prejudice to pending applications before the Commission which will be considered on their merits.

Any enquiries or clarifications in respect of this Suspension Notice should be forwarded to: licensing@ncc.gov.ng.

By Joyce Remi-Babayeju

The Nigeria Communication Commission, NCC, has announced the 90% restoration of the peak utilization capacities of the undersea fiber optics along the coasts of Cote D’Ivoire and Senegal which was disrupted on March 14, 2024.

NCC said that all operators who were impacted by the cuts have taken recovery capacity from submarine cables which were not impacted by the cuts.

Mobile Network Operators have assured the Commission that data and voice services would operate optimally pending full repairs of the undersea cables, as they have managed to activate alternative connectivity to bring back the situation to normalcy.

Following the new development, the NCC however expressed its appreciation to telecom consumers for their patience and understanding during the downtime caused by the undersea fiber cuts.

By Joyce Remi-Babayeju

The Nigeria Communication Commission, NCC, has alerted that the current data and fixed telecoms, (voice) distortions experienced in Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Cote de Ivoire and other African countries is due to equipment faults caused by undersea cable cuts.

NCC said, “The cuts occurred somewhere in Cote de’Ivoire and Senegal, with an attendant disruption in Portugal.”

“Cable companies – West African Cable System (WACS) and African Coast to Europe (ACE) in the West Coast route from Europe have experienced faults while SAT3 and MainOne have downtime.”

“Similar undersea cables providing traffic from Europe to the East Coast of Africa, like Seacom, Europe India Gateway (EIG), Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (AAE1), are said to have been cut at some point around the Red Sea, resulting in degradation of services across on these routes.”

In a statement signed by NCC, Director, Public Affairs, Reuben, NCC brings to the notice of Nigerians that the recent and frequent data and voice services is caused by this faulty equipment.

It said, “In Nigeria and other West African countries, Internet access and speed have experienced disruptions in the networks of service providers in the affected countries.”

” Operators of these cables have commenced repairs already, and services are gradually being restored.”

” They have promised to work round the clock to ensure that services are restored to the affected countries within the shortest possible time.”

“It is important to bring this information to the knowledge of corporate and individual consumers on these services.”

By Joyce Remi-Babayeju

Nigeria has successfully recorded a hike in it’s active voice and internet service subscription, and a drop in teledensity , latest Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, statistics indicator report revealed in tune with international best practices.

The active voice subscription statistics witnessed a marginal growth from 220,361,186 to 221,769,883 as of September 2023.

Also, Internet subscriptions also enjoyed a marginal growth, from 159,034,717 in August 2023 to 160,171,757 in September 2023.

The NCC industry statistical reports of September, October, and November 2023 published on the Commission’s website, was predicated upon the Nigerian Population Commission (NPC)’s projection of Nigeria’s population at 216,783,381, as of 2022, replacing the previously used 2017 projection of 190 million people.

According to NCC Spokesperson, Reuben Mouka, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)’s calculation of teledensity, shows that the nation’s teledensity dropped from 115.63% to 102.30% in September, while Broadband penetration witnessed a similar drop from 45.47% to 40.85% in the same month.

In October 2023 the industry also experienced a 0.19% growth in Active Voice subscriptions while teledensity stood at 102.49% with Internet subscriptions increasing by 0.60% compared to September 2023.

In November of the same year, the industry also experienced a 0.46% growth in Active Voice subscriptions. Teledensity stood at 102.97% with a 0.57% increase in Internet subscriptions when compared to October 2023.

Teledensity is an index prescribed by the International Telecommunications Union, ITU, for the measurement of telephone penetration in a population by a factor of one line per 100 individuals in the population.

The adjustment by the Commission is consistent with Section 89 Subsection 3(d) of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 (NCA 2003), in which the Commission is mandated to monitor and report on the state of the Nigerian telecommunications industry, provide statistical analysis and identify industry trends concerning services, tariffs, operators, technology, subscribers, and issues of competition.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, affirmed the nation’s telecom statistical adjustment process as an appropriate step to maintain the integrity of data about the Nigerian telecom industry as collected, collated, and published by the Commission.

Maida noted that this will also ensure the accurate measurement of the Commission’s progress towards attaining increased broadband penetration rates, improved quality of service, and increased population coverage, among other targets set out in the Strategic Plan for the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy.

He also said such data provides information for both the International Telecommunications Union to which Nigeria belongs, and other development agencies as well as the operators, investors, multilateral agencies, and the public.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has extended the deadline for submission of applications and entries into the 2023 Talent Hunt through Hackathon to Saturday, September 30, 2023.

To this end, the deadline for application/entries into the contest, which opened on September 1, 2023, and initially closed today (September 22, 2023), has now been extended to close on the last day of September 2023.

The approval of the extension window by the Commission is to give ample time for more prospective and viable startups to tidy up their solutions in the required format for submission as well as to enable more upcoming technology entrepreneurs to participate in the competition.

The talent hunt is one of the means through which the Commission gives concrete expression to its Strategic Vision Plan 2023-2025, by encouraging the development of new technologies and indigenous content through cutting-edge research to stimulate sustainable economic growth and development in Nigeria.

Consequently, the Commission had invited the Tech Hubs, and Innovation-Driven Enterprises (IDEs) in Nigeria to enroll their start-ups and their solutions in the third edition of the NCC Talent Hunt Research through a Hackathon with a focus on three (3) thematic areas such as Blockchain-enabled Data Protection Solutions for Enhancing Regulatory Compliance; Assistive Technology Solutions for the Elderly and People with Disabilities, and Technology Solutions for Renewable Energy in Rural Areas.

The NCC Talent Hunt Research through Hackathon leverages Emerging Digital Technologies to facilitate the development of home-grown innovative solutions and local content development in the telecommunications sector while fostering economic growth and social advancement in Nigeria.

The competition enables the translation of novel ideas into the development of hardware/software solutions that address industry and societal challenges. The best three solutions, one from each of the three areas listed above will receive grants of N10 million each for the development of the solutions.

The Commission has set out eligibility criteria for those seeking to participate in the competition, which include that the Enterprise applying must provide a certificate of registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the Enterprise must not have previously received support from the Commission, the project should have clear relevance to one of the three thematic areas above, it must provide a clear problem statement, proposed solution, and roadmap to deployment.

Other requirements include a proof of concept (which may also include technical feasibility of the idea with diagram, algorithm, existing models, or case studies; the solution must be novel with the applicant making a declarative statement on ownership of the intellectual property, the solution including prototype development shall be concluded within 6 months of receipt of the Grant and must propose a detailed commercialization plan of the prototype.

The Entry Submission format indicated that the proposal must include ideation,

Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and solution, Current Sweat Equity Investment, Product-Market Fit status, Verifiable Go-to-Market status, Growth Feasibility Assurances, Maturity Model and Timeliness; and Exist time: Disaster Recovery, where applicable

All applications should be made online and must follow the stipulated entry format and there is no financial cost to participating in the competition while full control and ownership of the intellectual property of the developed solutions remain with the Commission.

The entries must be made by a Tech Hub/Innovation-Driven Enterprise that must show evidence of the relationship with the Start-up/solution being entered, a 4-page Executive summary of the project concept, a 3-5 minute video of the pilot project, names, age, contact details, passport photos and profile of all team members and the website (if available) as well as an E-mail address of the applicant.

All interested and qualified enterprises should submit requested documents in a zip folder to https://ncc.gov.ng/talenthuntresearchhackathon2023 with the subject of the mail titled “Submission from ” and the zipped file named after the business.

The Commission therefore wishes to notify members of the public that the deadline for sublimation has now been extended to September 30, 2023, when the application and enjoin the startup ecosystem to note their participation.

…As Danbatta reels out achievements since 2015

By Joyce Remi-Babayeju 

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communication Commission, NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta has disclosed that the national target of the Commission is to achieve 70 percent broadband penetration by 2025.

Prof. Danbatta made this public at a special media chat with executive editors and media chiefs from the northern part of the country.

Danbatta stated that the national target is to achieve 70 percent broadband penetration by 2025 is receiving renewed attention from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which promises 50 percent before the end of 2023.

 Prof. Danbatta, who hosted the media executives, highlighted this to unveil his achievements since the resumption of office until date.

 Furthermore, the NCC EVC informed the media chiefs that Fifth Generation (5G) services subscriptions have already hit half a million in subscription, adding that the various efforts of the Commission to improve broadband penetration are yielding fruitful results with the current estimates as at July 2023 standing at 47.01 percent.

 Referring to the reviewed five-pillar Strategic Vision Plan as the Commission’s building block, the EVC disclosed the 119 milestones achieved under the five strategic pillars, including regulatory excellence, universal broadband, market development, digital economy and strategic collaboration.

 He stated that through effective implementation of NCC’s mandates under his leadership and cooperation of internal and external stakeholders since 2015, the Nigerian telecommunications industry has achieved remarkable milestones under our leadership.

While we acknowledge the challenges encountered by the industry, we have also witnessed explosive growth, improved regulatory standards, and digital innovations that have garnered global recognition,” he said.

 Danbatta who .reeled out the impressive statistics achieved under his leadership at NCC from 2015 to date, disclosed that active telephone subscribers had increased from less than 150.7 million to 218.9 million, representing a density growth of 115.70 percent from 107.87 percent in 2015.

Through stimulating broadband infrastructure across the country, Danbatta said broadband penetration, which stood at 6 percent in 2015, has increased significantly to 47.01 percent as of July 2023, enhancing over 89.73 million subscriptions on 3G, 4G and 5G networks in the country. Additionally, general Internet subscriptions have reached 159.5 million, up from less than 100 million in 2015.

 “Also, from 8 percent contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2015, the telecommunications sector now contributes 16 percent quarterly to the Nigerian economy as of the second quarter of 2023.

Besides, following the authorization of more telecommunications companies to operate in the Nigeria’s telecoms sector, the investments profile has increased tremendously from $38 billion in 2015 to $75 billion currently and this keeps growing daily. From the sales of Fifth Generation (5G) C-Band Spectrum, the NCC has generated over $847.8 million for the Federal Government,” he said.

“Other milestones and initiatives recorded aside the regulatory activities that culminated in the landmark launch of 5G services in Nigeria include the introduction of Spectrum Trading Guidelines, re-farming and re-planning certain spectrum bands for efficiency, the em placed collaborative process for the release of C-Band Spectrum by Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) Limited, and introduction of the Expanded Revenue Assurance Solution (ERAS) to address revenue leakages and improve government revenue from the telecom’s industry.

 “These initiatives also include Licensing of Satellite Earth Stations, issuing of operating license to SpaceX Satellite, facilitating the landing of additional submarine Cables, such as the Google 2,000 km Equiano subsea Internet cable in 2022, listing of MTN on the Niger