Telecom
NCC Partners Lagos Business School on Capacity Building
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Lagos Business School of Pan-Atlantic University are considering forging a partnership that will result in developing customised capacity building interventions and overhauling of existing training courses offered by the LBS to address critical areas of needs of the Commission’s human capital development.
L -R; Mrs. Grace Ojougboh, Head, Media and Public Relations, Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC); Mrs. Nkechi Iwegbu, Head, Custom Executive Education, Lagos Business School (LBS); Mr. Victor Banjo, Director, Executive Education, LBS; Mr. Adeleke Adewolu, Executive Commissioner Stakeholder Management, NCC; Mr. Kelechi Nwankwo, Head Research and Development, NCC; Mrs. Safiya Jijji, Head, Human Capital,NCC; Edith Afundu, Head,Policy Management, NCC
Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the NCC, emphasized the imperative of such collaboration during a visit of an LBS delegation led by the School’s Director, Executive Education, Victor Banji, to the Commission’s Head Office in Abuja recently.
The EVC spoke through NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Adeleke Adewolu, who received the LBS delegation (alongside other senior management staff of the Commission) on behalf of the EVC.
Addressing the visiting team, Adewolu said NCC constantly engages in staff training as part its strategy to build managerial and technical skills required to manage the ever-dynamic telecoms regulatory environment in Nigeria.
Adewolu said while LBS, has been a training partner of NCC over the years and currently provides some classes of capacity building to staff of the Commission, it has become necessary to expand the training scope by ensuring that other customized programmes that target specific needs of Commission’s human capital are designed by the School in collaboration with NCC team to meet strategic objectives and enhance the relationship of the two organisations.
Among the areas of interest to the Commission are courses on performance appraisal management, policy formulation and execution, risk management, technical report writing, telecoms-related training, tariff and competition management, as well as basic training on policy formulation and implementation, social media training, audio-visual editing, among others.
“I thank the LBS for its collaboration with NCC over the years in the area of human capital development. However, we expect that LBS will work with NCC to see how we can collectively overhaul the existing courses and bring new course to NCC’s attention which we would, in turn, subject to our training need analysis (TNA). This may result in a review of our existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) towards making our relationship much stronger and more mutually beneficial,” Adewolu said.
The Executive Commissioner also explained that though NCC is a regulatory agency, it has seen the need for indigenous digital skills development in Nigeria, and that explained the creation creation of the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), by the Commission to meet the human capital needs of the burgeoning telecom, and broadly, the ICT sector.
According to Adewolu, other areas of focus in meeting educational needs of the sector, include indigenous digital skills development, sponsoring of hackathon, provision of research grants to the academia, endowment of professorial chairs in universities, and the acceleration of digital infrastructure deployment across the country to boost digital literacy and skills for Nigeria’s socio-economic development.
Speaking earlier on the purpose of the visit to the Commission, Banji of LBS, said the business school wishes to serve as a strategic capacity development partner to NCC for its teaming staff; revisit LBS’s existing MoU for necessary enhancements; as well as offer corporate governance, board leadership and management development programmes to enhance corporate effectiveness.
Banji also commended the NCC for its role in ensuring effective digital transformation in Nigeria. “As the Commission responsible for creating an enabling environment for telecom operators and allied stakeholders in the industry, as well as ensuring the provision of qualitative and efficient telecommunications services throughout the country, NCC has earned a reputation as a foremost Telecom regulatory agency in Africa,” Banji said.
In addition, the LBS Executive stated that while his organisation will continue to play a prominent and leading role in building leaders with integrity for Nigeria, Africa, and the world, it also believes that with effective directors and leaders in the public sector organisation such as the NCC, Nigeria will be managed more efficiently for greater value and sustainable growth.
“Our conviction at LBS is that telecommunications penetration is one of the critical developments required to transform poverty into prosperity.
“Our thesis is simple: the access to and use of mobile telephony contributes to the health of the population and efficiency of the economy.
“It is equally a lever for poverty reduction as contained in Goal One of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Banji declared to emphasize the centrality of telecoms as an enabler of development.
Nigeria’s technology company, Globacom, has extended warm felicitations to Nigerians on the occasion of the 2024 Christmas celebrations.
In a goodwill message released in Lagos, Globacom urged Nigerians to embrace the spirit of love and kindness during the festive season, especially in the face of prevailing economic challenges.
The company emphasized the importance of practicing the teachings of Jesus Christ, particularly the virtues of obedience to God and loving one’s neighbor as well.
“Christ taught many virtues including obedience to God and loving one’s neighbour as oneself”, the company said, adding, “Now is the apt time to practise these teachings by sharing with the needy”.
Globacom also encouraged Nigerians to extend the conviviality of Christmas beyond the festive season by fostering love, peace, and harmony, as demonstrated by God through the birth of Jesus Christ.
Assuring its customers of uninterrupted services throughout the Yuletide period and beyond, Globacom urged them to take advantage of its innovative products and services to stay connected and share the memories of the season with loved ones.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have ordered Deposit Money Banks and Mobile Network Operators to settle the long-standing N250bn USSD debt dispute before January 2, 2025.
The CBN and NCC also directed banks to pay the pre-Application Programming Interfaces (API) debt before July 2, 2025.
They also ordered that post-API debts be settled before December 31, 2024.
The directive was issued in a joint cirular titled, “2nd Joint Circular of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission on the Resolution of the USSD Debt Issue Between Deposit Money Banks and Mobile Network Operators.”
The circular dated December 20, 2024, was signed by Oladimeji Taiwo, acting director of the Payments System Management Department, CBN, and Chizua Whyte, head of Legal and Regulatory Services, NCC.
The regulators said, “In view of the foregoing, the CBN and the NCC hereby direct DMBs and MNOs as follows: 1. That 60 per cent of all pre-API invoices must be paid as full and final settlement.
“Payment plans (lump sum or installments) must be agreed upon between a concerned DMB and MNO by January 2, 2025. Installments must be based on equal monthly payments, with full payment due by July 2, 2025.
“DMBs must pay 85 per cent of all outstanding invoices issued after the implementation of APIs (i.e., February 2022) by December 31, 2024.
“Similarly, 85 per cent of future invoices must be liquidated within one month of service.”
According to the regulators, the transition to end-user billing will be activated only for DMBs and MNOs that comply with the payment conditions cobtained in the circular.
CBN and the NCC said they would provide further guidance on public enlightenment initiatives related to the transition.
The regulators also directed MNOs to implement the “10-seconds rule” for USSD invoicing.
This implies that any session lasting less than ten seconds will not be billable.
The regulators added, “Failure to comply with the terms outlined in this directive will attract necessary sanctions, ensuring that both DMBs and MNOs uphold their obligations.”
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has unveiled a draft regulatory framework aimed at addressing fraud, spam, and other challenges in the Application-to-Person messaging sector.
The telecom regulator made this announcement in a statement.
The proposed framework, which was introduced during a virtual Stakeholders’ Forum, is said to be a key step towards enhancing the sector’s integrity and ensuring a fair, transparent environment for all parties involved.
The draft framework, presented by Aminu Maida, executive vice chairman, NCC, who was represented by Chizua Whyte, NCC’s acting head of legal and regulatory services, seeks to regulate the A2P messaging space.
The A2P messaging, used for notifications such as bank alerts, promotional campaigns, and government updates, has become a vital communication tool in Nigeria.
However, the sector faces significant challenges, including consumer protection concerns, fraud, and data privacy issues, as well as an unequal distribution of value within the ecosystem.
“The international A2P messaging space in Nigeria faces gaps that have led to issues such as fraud, spam, and data privacy concerns. These challenges threaten the sustainable growth of this communication tool,” the NCC said.
The proposed framework aims to address these challenges by protecting consumers, promoting fair competition, and holding service providers accountable.
“This forum marks a pivotal step towards addressing these challenges. We are here to engage with all stakeholders—operators, aggregators, businesses, service providers, and consumers—to refine the framework and ensure it meets the needs of the entire ecosystem.”
The NCC stressed the importance of inclusivity and collaboration in creating an effective regulatory environment.
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