Ict/Telecom
Telecoms Providers, Subscribers Lament Challenges
The concluding part of the story published Friday,
August 1, 2014.
Daniel also said the
company had reduced its Turn-Around Time, a period during which customers’ complaints are addressed, to less than one hour, as part of efforts to satisfy customers.
On differences in the cost of recharge cards in Gombe, he said the company had set up a committee to ensure uniform prices.
He said the company was using the media to sensitise the public to the services which Globacom offered as well as other issues that would improve its service delivery.
Miss Paula Paul, New Dawn Manager of MTN Trade Partner in Gombe, said the company had bought 3G network facility to increase the strength of its services, especially for those browsing on the network.
However, The Tide source revealed that as part of solutions to the various problems observed, operators like MTN, GLO and Etisalat have installed the 3G system.
GLO has also opened smaller offices in the headquarters of local government areas across the country to get their services closer to subscribers at the grass-roots level.
Subscribers, on their part, called on the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), as a regulatory body, to try and curtail the excesses of operators found to be short-changing subscribers.
The Director of Public Affairs, NCC, Mr Tony Ojobo, informed that subscribers had legal rights to call the hot line of the commission to report any ill treatment by the network providers across the country.
He said subscribers would have to ensure that the network provider actually short-changed by reporting first to the providers before calling on the NCC for intervention.
Ojobo also said that vandalism of facilities of network providers had been a big challenge to the sector and that there was a bill before the National Assembly to address the problem.
He also advised telephone users to get certified mobile phones whenever they purchase a new phone.
According to the NCC spokesman, epileptic services on the network are due partly to the fact that some mobile phones which the subscribers use do not have the capacity of receiving calls at a close range.
On telemarketing, Ojobo said, “it is global practice, hence, it is impossible to ban it in the country.’’
He said the commission tried to regulate the timing of such messages so as not to inconvenience subscribers, adding that the time was now restricted to between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
He urged subscribers who were still being inundated with such unsolicited text messages at odd hours to sue the telecoms operators involved for invasion of their privacy.
According to him, the NCC is watching the operators and anyone that flouts the regulation on telemarketing would be punished.
He said that apart from issues bordering on unsolicited SMS, consumers could also ‘take the telecoms firms to task’ on account of the poor services being rendered to them.
“I think time has come for people to assert their rights. It is only in the telecoms industry that the people want the regulator to do everything for them.
“People should also take up the responsibility at some point to demand their rights from their service providers. That is the point we have made; people can take the service providers to court.
“It is not everything that the regulator should handle. In order climes, people have gone to court for even lesser matters. “We need to be able to put our laws to test. It is a contract! Every network has a contractual obligation in its drive to provide services for members of the public,’’ Ojobo said.
The Corporate Service Executive of MTN Nigeria, Mr Wale Goodluck, said that the issue regarding capacity to accommodate subscribers was essentially in the hands of the operators.
Goodluck said that it behoved operators to have a good understanding of the demands of customers and to put in place the capacity to meet them.
“The good news is that operators have the resources to install the required capacity but the reality is that it is extremely difficult to put infrastructure on ground in our environment.
“The same infrastructure challenges that have bedevilled the power industry also affect the telecommunications industry,” he said.
Goodluck stressed that telecoms infrastructure could not exist in a vacuum as there ought to be a parallel growth in other sectors for full realisation of the benefits of the increased rollout.
The Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, Mr Gbenga Adebayo, said that the challenges in the sector remained enormous and had been hampering capacity rollout.
Adebayo cited the insecurity of telecoms infrastructure, a phenomenon which, he said, manifested prominently in the 2012 terror attacks on telecoms facilities in some parts of the country.
He said that the operators faced other challenges such as multiple taxation, difficulty in obtaining the Right of Way (RoW), as well as different levies imposed by some states and local governments.
Adebayo said that some of these issues hampered efforts to erect base stations that would boost the quality of services offered by service providers.
It would be recalled that no fewer than 30 base stations were bombed while several others were damaged in the 2012 terror attacks on telecoms installations, and some of the facilities have yet to be rebuilt due to lack of access to the sites.
Recent reports revealed that telecoms firms recorded a minimum of 70 cases of vandalism of its infrastructure monthly in different parts of the country.

Special Adviser to the Rivers State Governor on ICT, Engr. Goodlife Nmekini (right), presenting Ipad to Head of Department, Paediatrics, Braitwait Memorial Specialist Hospital, Port Harcourt, Dr. Ajibola Alabi (middle), during Governor Chibuike Ameachi’s inspection of installed ICT facility by the State ICT Department at the hospital recently. With them is Dr. Josephine Aiya.
Ict/Telecom
NCC Assures Safe, Accessible Digital Space
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has assured Nigerians of accessible, resilient and safe digital space in the nation’s digital economy.
The Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management, NCC, Rimini Makama, gave the assurance at the NCC’s Digital Economy Sensitisation Forum, with the theme, “Leaving No One Behind: Digital Access, Equity and Empowerment” in Abuja.
Makama said that the commission remained committed to ensuring that Nigeria’s national telecommunications infrastructure remained resilient, accessible and secure.
“Digital empoScientists Advocate Shared Responsibility To Boost Food Securitywerment must be inclusive. Without inclusion and equity, the benefits of the digital economy will remain unevenly distributed.
“The commission, through its Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) and other initiatives, is actively extending digital opportunities to the unserved, underserved, physically challenged and vulnerable groups through several impactful programmes,” he said.
The Publicity Expert for the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Dr Nihinlola Fefa, said that the association had been an advocate of cyber security awareness and sensitisation over the years.
“ATCON has been a very key stakeholder in the ICT and telecom industry. We have always advocated for cybersecurity awareness and sensitisation.
“We have been giving our own input over the years. We interface with all the telecom companies. We do a lot of studies, and we also give our contributions in so many ways,” she said.
She commended the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, for deploying technology into rural communities.
According to her, though Nigeria is doing well in the area of cybersecurity, there is room for improvement.
“We are in a good position right now and we can do better from the government side,” she said.
Also speaking, the Head, IT and Cybersecurity, National Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Olorunisomo Isola, said that the commission had rolled out the necessary framework.
Ict/Telecom
Expert Tasks Nigerians On AI
An economist, Dr Chinedu Amadi, has urged Nigerians to leverage the opportunities inherent in Artificial Intelligence (AI) to become competitive in the global business and social spaces.
Amadi, who is also the President, Organisation of Youth in International Trade and Commerce (OY-ITC), gave the urge during an interview with newsmen , in Abuja, Monday.
Amadi noted that humanity has always advanced by expanding its intelligence and capabilities through technology across different eras pointing out that AI now drives economic systems, social interactions and competitive advantage among nations globally.
“The world is entering a phase where humans and intelligent machines will share cognitive functions, so Nigeria should innovate or risk being sidelined in the emerging global digital order.
“The next frontier extends beyond AI tools to a deeper relationship between human consciousness and machine intelligence. This phase has the dawn of shared human machine cognition shaping future innovation and development worldwide,” he said.
Amadi noted that countries like the U.S., Japan and China already integrated AI into national planning, logistics and defence operations.
He warned that a deeper wave of collaboration between humans and intelligent systems is rapidly emerging
urging Nigeria and other African nations not to remain passive observers in this technological transition.
“Nigeria must innovate urgently or risk missing another major industrial revolution. Future global leadership will favour nations that create, regulate and ethically manage advanced technologies,” he added.
He said that the youthful population is viewed as a potential cognitive economy capable of driving digital creativity.
He advised policymakers and institutions to develop indigenous technologies, reflecting national priorities and moral values.
The president, however, noted that energy and agricultural sector can gain efficiency through predictive AI and advanced computation, adding that governance can also benefit from digital systems that strengthen transparency and curb corruption.
While noting that neural interfaces and quantum processing would soon merge human thought with computationAmadi said that the evolution demands ethical guidance, empathy and deeper human conscience in education system.
According to him, nations worldwide are racing to regulate AI and Nigeria also needs to define its strategic position.
“The future beyond AI will favour societies that balance innovation with wisdom and uphold human dignity,” he said.
Ict/Telecom
NIGCOMSAT Expands Nigeria’s Digital Broadcast Subsector By 35%
The Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) Limited says the country’s digital broadcast subsector has expanded by 35 per cent to 75 per cent utilisation in two years.
This, it said, represented a milestone in the country’s digital transformation drive.
The Managing Director, NIGCOMSAT, Mrs Jane Egerton-Idehen, made the remark at a retreat with the theme: ‘Aligning for the Future: Innovation, Collaboration, and Sustainable Growth”, in Abuja, Monday.
According to her the theme reflects NIGCOMSAT’s commitment to driving Nigeria’s digital transformation and positioning itself as a global satellite industry leader.
She said one of the notable achievements in its broadcast segment was the Digital Switch Over (DSO) project, describing it as not just a technical milestone but also a national service.
“This growth is a testament to the organization’s improved service delivery and stronger engagement with partners and clients.
“The DSO project, a collaborative effort with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), is a key milestone in Nigeria’s digital transformation.
“NIGCOMSAT’s contribution to the project is enabling digital broadcasting penetration across the federation, cementing the organisation’s position at the centre of Nigeria’s digital transformation,” she said.
Egerton-Idehen said the achievements were expected to drive revenue growth, with target of three billion naira in annual revenue and eight billion naira in revenue within three years adding that the organisation’s expansion of broadband services and private sector partnership was key to achieving the goals.
“We cannot move boldly into the future without addressing the weight of the past. Our debt profile — both financial and operational — is a reality we must confront with strategy, discipline, and creativity.
“These are our headwinds. We acknowledge them openly because honesty is the first step toward transformation.,” Egerton-Idehen said.
She said in spite of challenges such as economic barriers and competition, the organisation remained optimistic about the future.
“We must out-innovate the market, deepen partnerships, and build a culture of solution-focused, profit-driven, and people-centered excellence.”
“The key initiatives include transitioning to software-defined satellites, expanding broadband services, and the NIGCOMSAT Accelerator for the Space Ecosystem.
“The organisation is prioritising public-private partnerships, branding, and communication, as well as investing in its people,” she said.
The Chief Executive Officer, Data Science Nigeria, Olubayo Adekanbi, said satellite-based economy could revolutionise key sectors such as agriculture, health, and education, creating new job opportunities and increasing productivity.
“By providing internet access to remote areas, satellite technology can bridge the digital divide and ensure no one is left behind.
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