Telecom
Solo, Airtel Partnership Will Deepen Digital Content Usage- Ogundipe
Mr. Tayo Ogundipe, co-founder of SOLO, has reiterated that the Company’s partnership with Airtel, leading telecommunications operator in Nigeria, will benefit content lovers across the country.
Ogundipe told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek in his office in Lagos that, aside the Airtel partnership, they are looking out for other means to ensure users of their devices have unlimited access to digital contents.
SOLO, a device manufacturing and end-to-end digital content company, recently joined forces with Airtel to release the SOLO S355.
The dual-core, 3.5 inch screen phone has 4GB of internal storage, 512 MB of RAM and a memory card slot expandable up to 32GB. It also has a front-facing camera and a 3 megapixel rear camera.
The SOLO S335 comes red, black and white, and has dual sim slots. One of them is locked to Airtel Nigeria, leaving the other free to use with other networks.
Like all SOLO devices, the S335 offers users access to over 20 million songs via the built-in SOLO Music platform for free.
Ogundipe told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek that, “There are ranges of areas we are looking for partnership. We are one of the few start-ups in the mobile space that has partnership with key operators. To us, operator-partnership is very critical, because their economic interest and that of SOLO is seemingly aligned.
“What we are doing in the area of content and services play off on the investment the investors have made on their 3G networks and they need to monetize the investment to have return-on-investment (RoI). To achieve that, they need to get the consumer to embrace the network, which creates way for the content providers to come in. Therefore, our strategy makes a lot of sense to the operators.
Still on the SOLO/Airtel partnership, he said, “It is 3-1/2’ product that retails not more than N9,000 with unlimited SOLO music. In fact, there are up to 20million music therein, for free. It has incredible data plan of 500MB monthly for the next 12 months. It is unbelievable. That is the kind of partnership we are talking about. Airtel is definitely one of the top players in the Nigerian telecoms space; we are leveraging that to reach the subscribers.
“That tells you something about SOLO; we are a new company, and a big Company like Airtel wants to do business with us. They believe in the bigger picture of our vision. Anybody can start doing something, but when you tie it to the interest of the partner, it does a lot better.
“There are other ones, we will be announcing soon”.
He said that they will leverage partners a lot, and will not allow the Nollywood slip from their hands in the way of content productions.
Telecom
9mobile Nigeria Inks Agreement to Roam with MTN

9mobile, Nigerian operator, has reportedly gained approval for roaming on the MTN Nigeria network in a deal that some commentators suggest could improve its position in the market and, more specifically, tempt back lost subscribers.
After finally gaining regulatory approval from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), 9mobile plans to launch national roaming services on the MTN network from this month.
Under the agreement, 9mobile subscribers will gain access to MTN’s infrastructure for calls, texts and data in areas where 9mobile’s coverage is weak or unavailable.
For 9mobile, the deal offers a cost-effective way to expand coverage without the heavy investment required for nationwide infrastructure.
According to ITWeb Africa, the decision comes nearly five years after initial discussions – much longer than expected due, the Techloy news service said, to regulatory bottlenecks, shifting market conditions, and unclear execution timelines.
It may, however, prove pivotal for 9mobile, whose market share has dwindled to 1.72% in April 2025, down from 6.6% in 2020 when the proposal was first submitted. Indeed, in 2015 the company once known as Etisalat Nigeria had over 23 million subscribers and a 15.7% market share.
Of course, there’s also something in this for MTN. In exchange for network access, MTN gains utilisation rights to 9mobile’s underused spectrum in the 900MHz, 1800MHz, and 2100MHz bands – key frequencies for expanding coverage and improving data capacity.
For MTN, which serves over 84 million subscribers, this additional spectrum could reduce congestion and improve service quality.
The company has also had financial difficulties in the Nigerian market due to the naira’s substantial depreciation; this deal could support better service provision at a reduced cost.
That said, MTN Nigeria’s results for the first quarter to March 31 2025 were apparently much improved, and the company recently announced a massive capital expenditure drive for 2025 of some NGN900 billion (US$568.5 million) as it seeks to significantly enhance network service quality in major cities like Lagos and Abuja and extend improvements to other areas.
Telecom
Banks, Telcos to Start Deducting USSD Charges from Airtime Today

Banks and telecom companies will begin deducting USSD banking charges directly from customers’ airtime instead of their bank accounts beginning from today, June 3.
USSD, otherwise Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, is a communications protocol used by GSM cellular telephones to interact with a mobile network operator’s computers.
First City Monument Bank (FCMB) announced this change in an e-mail message to customers, following a directive from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Key details:
Each USSD session will cost ₦6.98 per 120 seconds, charged by your mobile network.
You will be asked to approve the charge before it’s deducted from your airtime.
If you prefer, you can use other banking channels like ATMs, mobile apps, or internet banking.
This change is part of a move to end the long-standing debt dispute between banks and telecoms over unpaid USSD fees.
As of late 2024, banks owed telecom companies ₦160 billion. For example, MTN was owed ₦42 billion by Nigerian banks.
By shifting USSD fees to customers’ airtime, the telcos aim to recover these debts and avoid future issues.
Telecom
IHS Nigeria Moves to Enhance G4S Secure Solutions Site Patrols and Increase Operational Efficiency with Patrol Vehicles

IHS Nigeria, a subsidiary of IHS Holding Limited and one of the largest independent owners, operators, and developers of shared telecommunications infrastructure in the world by tower count, has formally commissioned 65 Response, Patrol, and Escort (RPE) vehicles to G4S Secure Solutions Nigeria Limited, its long-standing security partner.
The commissioning ceremony which held in Ikeja GRA, Lagos, underscores IHS Nigeria’s commitment to operational excellence, safety, and strategic partnerships.
The fully equipped vehicles, customized with radio systems, public address systems, medical kits, ladders, and amber lights, are expected to significantly enhance G4S’s patrol capabilities and enable proactive risk mitigation across IHS Nigeria’s infrastructure footprint in the country.
Speaking at the event, Jubril Saba, Vice President, Operations at IHS Nigeria, remarked: “IHS Nigeria is delighted to formally hand over these Response, Patrol and Escort (RPE) vehicles to our valued security partner, G4S Secure Solutions Nigeria Limited. As a company, we recognize that the success of our operations lies not only in our technology and infrastructure but also in the strength of the partnerships we build and sustain.
G4S has been an essential partner in protecting our sites, supporting our teams, and ensuring operational continuity across the country. This initiative is more than just a commissioning of vehicles; it is a reaffirmation of our commitment to the safety of our people and assets, our drive for operational excellence, and our belief in strong partnerships.
We understand that securing our infrastructure and communities is critical to sustaining high-quality services nationwide, and we are confident this fleet will enhance G4S’s capacity to support us.”
Also speaking at the event, Jonas Ahl, Managing Director of G4S Secure Solutions Nigeria Limited, expressed his appreciation for the partnership:
“We are proud to receive these 65 custom-built patrol vehicles from IHS Nigeria. Each unit is fully outfitted to meet the specific security needs of our operations, equipped with communication systems, emergency response tools, and visibility-enhancing features. These vehicles will not only improve our response times and field presence but also enable us to reduce risk and deter criminal activity more effectively.
I would like to thank the IHS team for their excellent collaboration throughout this project. We are proud to serve IHS and remain committed to protecting the assets that power connectivity across Nigeria.”
This strategic gesture reinforces IHS Nigeria’s position as a socially responsible and security-conscious industry leader, while highlighting the value of operational synergy with trusted partners like G4S.
The deployment of these vehicles marks another milestone in IHS’s mission to secure its infrastructure and deliver uninterrupted service to millions of users across the country.
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