Telecom
NCC Kicks as Some Operators Refuse to Pay AOL
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has decried the non-compliance of telecommunications operators to the payment of the Annual Operating Levy (AOL).
Funlola Akiode, Director, Licensing and Authorisation, NCC, said during the Annual Stakeholders’ Consultative Forum on Selected Licence Categories in Lagos, that such act was a breach of operators’ obligation.
Represented by Chukwuma Azikiwe, Head, Post Licensing Unit, NCC, Akiode said that non-compliance to terms, conditions and obligations was of concern to the commission.
He said: “With respect to compliance with Licence terms, conditions and obligations, our recent audit checks revealed that some licensees were not in compliance with obligations such as payment of Annual Operating Levy.
“Some operators are not in compliance with approved Individual Consumer Code of Practice, Type Approval of equipment, submission of statistical data and information on their change of address.
“Another important concern is in the area of licence renewal. We also observed the issue of delay in licence renewal by licensees whose licences have expired or about to expire.
“They erroneously relied on the aspect of the licence document which states that their licence would be automatically renewed.
“I wish to reiterate that renewal of expired licence is not automatic but subject to fulfilment of obligations.”
According to her, renewal of licence is subject to being up to date in payment of AOL, development and publication of approved ICCP.
Akiode said that licence renewal was subjected to updated type approval of telecommunications equipment, payment of spectrum and numbering where applicable, among others.
She urged licensees to take advantage of the forum to sought clarifications on any issue regarding their licence obligations and renewal processes and procedures.
Akiode said that the regulatory body had been recently inundated with complaints by subscribers on issues such as the non-compliance with directions on data roll-over and automatic renewal of data service.
She said that there were complaints on discrepancies in the advertised data speed and actual speed experienced by consumers after subscribing to a service.
She said: “The commission is fully aware and committed to discharging its mandate, especially in facilitating a conducive telecommunication environment and guiding the industry to sustain the achievement already recorded in the industry.
“It can only achieve this with the cooperation and support of the licensees, with respect to compliance with extant laws and subsidiary legislations.”
Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) is planning to encourage geo-political regions that grants zero charges for ‘Right of Way’ approvals as well not implementing arbitrary charges on telecommunications base stations in their regions with zero tariff.
Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, ALTON disclosed this to Nigeria CommunincationsWeek against the backdrop of incessant closure of base stations in some states.
He said that operators believe that the way out of this arbitrary charges and high cost of RoW approvals is regional tariffs.
“Operators are advocating for a regional tariff which means that geographical regions of Nigeria where cost of doing business for telecommunications operators is extremely high will attract high tariff compared to regions where there is low operating cost.
“Our advocacy of regional tariff is not based on a particular state but on regions. As at today there are regions where we have zero cost of “Right of Way” and low cost of doing business. Tariffs should reflect on operating environment. This means that national rate plan should consider high and low cost of doing business.
“If this is implemented, in a long run we could witness some regions having zero tariff because operational cost in such regions are friendly to operators,” he said.
It would be recalled that Kogi State recently shut down some operators’ base stations on account of local levies which raises the call for discriminatory tariff among geographical locations.
AVEVA, a global leader in industrial software driving digital transformation and sustainability in industries, today announces the appointment of Sébastien Ory, 48, as EMEA VP in charge of the partner and distributor network. VP of AVEVA Southern Europe since 2022 and President of AVEVA France since 2023, Sébastien now replaces Karine Calvet while remaining President of AVEVA France.
Sébastien Ory as EMEA VP Partners & Channels, AVEVA
In this new role, he will oversee the relationships with the various stakeholders involved in the distribution of AVEVA software and will have direct responsibility for more than forty employees spread across the EMEA region. Sébastien Ory will report directly to Jesus Hernandez, the new SVP of the EMEA region, who replaces Evgeny Fedotov, now CCO of RIB.
More than 18-year career in the industry
A graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique de Paris and the Institut National de l’Aéronautique (ISAE-SupAero) in Toulouse, Sebastien Ory is an active advocate for driving sustainable progress in the industrial sector.
He began his career at France Telecom as a sales manager where he stayed for 4 years before giving a more industrial dimension to his career.
With fifteen years of experience in the industrial automation industry, Sebastien Ory has developed a strategic understanding of this field. After 10 years in Schneider Electric’s industrial automation business, he led the global industrial software business development team for Schneider Electric Software from 2015 to 2018, with a particular focus on the water, power generation, mining and food industries. During these 3 years, the introduction of new software solutions will allow Schneider Electric Software to initiate and develop significant growth areas.
7 years at AVEVA
In 2018, Sébastien joined AVEVA as Vice President of the Southeast Asia region, leading a team of 200 talents in charge of delivering cloud-based industrial analytics and AI software. In addition to the growing developing the teams he leads from the Singapore headquarters, part of his energy is devoted to establishing direct engagement with leaders of major groups in the region such as Petronas, Pertamina, PTT, Wilmar and Olam, to stimulate their digital transformation initiatives.
In 2022, he took over the leadership of AVEVA’s activities in Southern Europe, a major industrial market for the company, whose customers, world leaders in the fields of Energy, Chemicals, Agri-food, Pharmaceuticals and Water, are looking for AVEVA’s expertise to accelerate and drive their digital transformation and sustainability strategies, as well as their energy transition projects. The changes he brings to the organization of the sales team are bearing fruit and allow AVEVA to acquire new customers while consolidating key accounts. As Sebastien transitions to the role of VP EMEA Partners & Channels, Dominique Bazin becomes the new Vice President of AVEVA Southern Europe.
EMEA VP Partners & Channels: a highly strategic position within AVEVA
Sébastien now holds the position of Vice President in charge of the Partners and Channels for AVEVA in Europe, Middle East and Africa, a major market for the company. His main mission is to design and implement a strategy for the growth of indirect sales, through a network of partners and strong alliances with Digital Services Companies (DSCs), AI platform providers and independent software vendors (ISVs) whose solutions are compatible with the CONNECT platform.
Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has hit back at Meta Platforms Inc, warning the tech giant that its threat to exit Nigeria will not erase its legal responsibilities or liabilities under the Nigerian law.
Meta said earlier today, May 3, that it “may be forced to effectively shut down the Facebook and Instagram services in Nigeria in order to mitigate the risk of enforcement measures.”
Meta’s warning came after it lost a legal bid last week to overturn a ₦220 million fine imposed by the FCCPC for violations of data protection and consumer rights laws.
Reacting to Meta’s threat, FCCPC, in a statement on Saturday, May 3, described Meta’s statement as “a calculated” move aimed at “inducing negative public reaction and potentially pressuring the FCCPC to reconsider its decision.”
FCCPC said that Meta threatening to leave Nigeria does not absolve the company of liabilities for the outcome of a judicial process.
“These infringements included denying Nigerians the right to control their personal data, transferring and sharing Nigerian user data without authorisation, discriminating against Nigerian users compared to users in other jurisdictions and abusing their dominant market position by forcing unfair privacy policies,” FCCPC wrote on X.
“Interestingly, Meta had been fined for similar breaches in Texas ($1.5b) and only recently was asked to pay $1.3 Billion for violating E.U. Data Privacy Rules.
Elsewhere in India, South Korea, France and Australia, Meta had faced varying penalties for similar breaches. But Meta never resorted to the blackmail of threatening to exit those countries. They obeyed.”
Cabals Still Fighting our Refinery – Dangote
FG Faults AfDB’s Adesina on Nigeria’s GDP Per Capita Figures
Telcos Plan Zero Tariff in Some Regions with Low Opex
Expert Urges FG to Leverage Digital Assets to Drive Diversification Goal
First Asset Management Surpasses ₦1 Trillion in Assets Under Management
Telecom3 days agoFines: Meta Threatens to Shut Down Facebook, Instagram in Nigeria
General News3 days agoHow Investments in Reskilling and Trust Help Businesses Succeed in the Agentic AI Era
Telecom3 days agoPremier League Fever Builds as MTN Nigeria Stages Dual-City Watch Parties This Weekend
E-Business3 days agoNigerians to Pay More for IDs as NIMC Raises Service Fees
E-Financial3 days agoFMITI, NGX Group Partner to Achieve $6Bn Investment Target
E-Business3 days agoPwC says AI Adoption by African Businesses will Unlock Growth
News3 days agoNITDA, RHI, Commission IT Community Centre in Ibadan
Broadcasting3 days agoHistory as TVC News Unveils Nigeria’s First AI-Powered News Anchors