Telecom
NCC Boss, Danbatta, to Deliver Fountain University’s Convocation Lecture
Apparently spurred by the vision, objectives and successes of policies, programmes and projects instituted by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to bridge the digital divide and encourage the youth to harness derivable benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the authority of the Fountain University, Osogbo (FUO), Osun State, has picked Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman/chief executive officer of NCC, to deliver 10th and 11th Convocation Lecture of the university.
The commission in a statement released by Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, director, Public Affairs, said the combined Convocation Lecture, titled: “Empowering the Nigeria Youth Through Information and Communication Technology” will take place on January 13, 2022 at NASFAT Eti-Osa Lecture Theatre in the university. Eminent personalities from government, industry and the academia are expected at the event scheduled at the heart of the week-long convocation ceremony.
Since his appointment in 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari as the EVC/Chief Executive Officer of NCC, Prof. Danbatta has worked with the Board, Management and staff of the Commission to sustain and improve on accomplishing Commission’s mandates and associated vision focused on digital literacy and enhancing the capacity of young people, students, their teachers and institutions to be active players in the emergent digital economy.
One way in which this vision has been given concrete expression is in the diligent execution of the NCC’s School Support Programmes, which include Digital Access Programme (DAP), Advanced Digital Appreciation Programme for Tertiary Institutions (ADAPTI), Wireless Cloud and Computer-Based Test projects.
All these are infrastructural projects that involve construction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) laboratory, supply of computers, connectivity project and construction of special computer-based test centres to enhance capacity of examination bodies to organise computer-based examinations with ease.
While these projects and programmes have benefited students, teachers and lecturers in arming them with modern techniques of knowledge acquisition and enabling the use of web-based resources to improve learning and teaching, other infrastructure projects and capacity-enabling programmes such as University Campus Connectivity (UniCC) project, Base Transceiver Station project, Backbone Transmission Infrastructure (BTRAIN), Digital Nigeria Centre, E-Accessibility, among others, are also being implemented by the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), an arm of the Commission.
The NCC, through Prof. Danbatta leadership, has continued to sponsor young innovative Nigerians to participate in ICT-focused competitions both nationally and globally, sponsor tech-startups to develop applications that address specific national concerns in the areas of health and security.
The Commission also collaborates with the academia to facilitate concrete linkage in research and development, innovation, technological incubation for national development with particular focus on harnessing the creative energy of the young people in the country, as evident in the annual national essay competition targeting young people who receive prizes annually.
Over the years, Danbatta has delivered high-profile academic and non-academic lectures at different tertiary institutions, national institutes and for professional bodies at the national and international levels, the imports of which have continued to reshape thinking on how best digital infrastructure can be maximally deployed and harnessed for overall development of the nation’s economy.
The Fountain University’s Convocation Lecture provides another opportunity for Danbatta to share his thoughts in this regard by intellectualising the discourse on how the foregoing and future plans of the Commission can help to situate the Nigerian youths to a point where they would play greater role in the emerging competitive global economy, relying on ICT resources.
Danbatta, a professor of Telecommunication Engineering, has taught in the university for over three decades, serving concurrently as an administrator and researcher. In those years, he had supervised over 60 students in bachelor, master and doctoral levels.
He is a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (FNSE), Nigerian Academy of Engineering (FAEng.), Renewable and Alternative Energy Society (FRAES) and Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (FNIEEE).
He has published several articles in journals, conference proceedings and technical reports. He is the author of a book on Elements of Static Engineering Electromagnetics.
At least 43 million lines were disconnected from networks service providers for non compliance with the National Identification Number (NIN) SIM linkage policy of the federal government, report has revealed.
The number of teleocm subscriber in the country fell by 43.7 million subscribers from 216,974,742 in April 2024 to 172,948,309.
This effectively reduced teledensity from 100.09 per cent to 79.78 per cent.
Teledensity is calculated based on Nigerian Population Commission’s projected population figure of 216 million, according to the NCC.
A breakdown showed that Airtel subscribers dropped from 62,933,351 in April 2024 to 58,586,914 in April 2025.
Globacom witnessed a drop from 62,055,248 in April 2024 to 20,607,726 in April 2025.
The amount of customers lost by Globacom was 20,607,726 making it the biggest loser.
9Mobile subscribers dropped to 2,964,445 in April 2025 from 8,956,568 subscribers in April 2024.
However, MTN Nigeria Communications was the only teleocm company that survived the shock.
MTN saw a rise in its subscribers from 82,716,236 in April 2025 to 90,508,170 in April 2025.
Analysis showed that the 43.7 million subscribers’ loss was a result of the disconnection of unregistered lines.
“The removal of Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs) that are not linked to verifiable National Identification Numbers (NINs) and the rectification of a major discrepancy by a Mobile Network Operator explain the significant drop in Nigeria’s telecoms subscriber base,” the regulator explained in the report.
In 2022, the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy announced the NIN-SIM linkage policy was for national security and accuracy of the national SIM ownership database.
Subscribers whose lines were not associated with a verified NIN were advised to complete NIN verification to reactivate their lines.
After multiple deadlines for compliance, the NCC set a final deadline of September 14, 2024, for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to complete the linkage process.
IHS Nigeria, a subsidiary of the IHS Towers group, announced on Thursday it has formed a strategic partnership with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to increase protection of critical telecoms infrastructure across Nigeria.
Under an MoU signed by both organizations, IHS Nigeria and the NSCDC plan to develop and implement strategies aimed at safeguarding IHS Nigeria’s assets and other telecoms infrastructure from theft and sabotage.
IHS Nigeria owns and operates over 16,000 towers in Nigeria and has deployed over 15,000km of fibre.
The NSCDC will aim to support IHS Nigeria for areas such as site surveillance, emergency responses and incident reporting.
That includes assisting in matters related to tower decommissioning as well as investigating, apprehending and prosecuting alleged site violators.
Mohamad Darwish, CEO, IHS Nigeria, said the collaboration with NSCDC was a key step to enhancing the resilience, reliability and availability of telecoms connectivity in Nigeria.
“By working closely with the NSCDC, which enforces the law that designates telecommunication towers as critical national information infrastructure, we aim to create a safer and more secure environment for our operations, including our infrastructure, and more importantly, ensure better quality of service for all users in Nigeria,” he said in a statement.
Vandalism and theft of fibre cables, backup batteries and other telecoms infrastructure has been a growing problem in Nigeria – so much so that Nigerian president Bola Tinubu declared telecoms infrastructure to be Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) via an executive order last year.
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued a fresh directive mandating telecom operators to compensate subscribers when major service outages last longer than 24 hours.
The commission also mandated telecom licensees in Nigeria to inform consumers of major service outages on their networks through media channels, stating the cause(s) of the service interruption, and the area(s) affected by the service interruption/outage, as well as the time that would be taken to restore service.
Consumers must also be informed one week in advance where operators have planned service outages.
This development, contained in the “Directive on Reportage of Major Network Outages by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs),” is part of the Commission’s drive to ensure timely resolution of outages, enhance quality of experience for telecom consumers, and keep consumers informed.
According to the Directive, Mobile Network Operators, Internet Service Providers and other operators that provide last mile services will also provide proportional compensation, including extension of validity, as may be applicable and in line with the provisions of the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations, where any major network outage continues for more than 24 hours.
It identifies three types of major outages to include: Any network operational condition such as fibre cut due to construction/access issues/theft & vandalism and force majeure that impacts five per cent or more of the affected operator’s subscriber base or five or more Local Government Areas (LGAs); having an occasion of unplanned outage of, or complete isolation of network resources in 100 or more sites or five per cent of the total number of sites (whichever is less) or 1 cluster that lasts for 30 minutes or more; and lastly, any form of outage that can degrade network quality in the top 10 states based on traffic volume as specified by the Commission from time to time.
In furtherance of this, the Commission has further directed that all Major Outages are to be reported by operators through the Commision’s Major Outage Reporting Portal, which is accessible to the public through the Commission’s website, www.ncc.gov.ng. The portal additionally discloses the identity of the culprit responsible for the disruption.
Commenting on the Directive and the Major Outage Reporting Portal, the Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity, Engr. Edoyemi Ogor stated that, “The Commission has trialed the reporting process and portal with operators for some months now before issuing the directive.
“By providing consumers and stakeholders in the telecommunications industry with timely and transparent information on network outages, we are entrenching a culture of accountability and transparency. This approach also ensures that culprits are held responsible for sabotage to telecommunications infrastructure.
“This also aligns with our broader commitment to the effective implementation of the Executive Order signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which designates telecommunications infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII). It reinforces the need to safeguard these assets, given their centrality to national security, economic stability, and the everyday lives of Nigerians,” Engr Edoyemi Ogor said.
Telecom Subscribers Decline By 43m in One Year
SERAP Drags CBN to Court over Alleged Failure to Disclose LG Allocations
IHS Nigeria, NSCDC Partner to Protect Telecoms Infrastructure
Nigeria Launches Cybercrime Team with Commonwealth, UK Support
NCC Orders Telcos to Compensate Subscribers for Outages More than 24 Hours
E-Financial2 days agoNGX Clears Fidelity Bank MD of Insider Trading Allegations
News2 days agoToll Collection on Lagos-Calabar Highway Begins December
Telecom3 hours agoNCC Orders Telcos to Compensate Subscribers for Outages More than 24 Hours
E-Financial3 hours agoSERAP Drags CBN to Court over Alleged Failure to Disclose LG Allocations
Telecom3 hours agoTelecom Subscribers Decline By 43m in One Year
E-Business3 hours agoNigeria Launches Cybercrime Team with Commonwealth, UK Support
General News3 hours agoHEDA Sues FG, Oil Giants over Alleged Unlawful Oil Licence Transfer
Telecom3 hours agoIHS Nigeria, NSCDC Partner to Protect Telecoms Infrastructure