General News
The Telco Business As a Service Provider
The recent feud between MTN, Glo, Airtel and Etisalat – , Nigeria’s big four mobile operators and the Nigeria Communications Communication (NCC), the industry regulator leading to a hefty cumulative fine of N1.17 billion threw up several mindboggling questions.
One of such on the minds of the subscribers: did NCC act on behalf of the customers and if so, why are the funds going to the regulator, rather than the subscriber?
Again, the question arises: who loses if the NCC asks non-cooperating operators to leave in ‘national interest’?
Answers to the second question put more issues of ‘national interest’ at the front burner. Who defines ‘national interest’?
Bolaji Abdulahi, the Minister of Sports, recently gave an insight to the ‘national interest’ question with a new twist when he stopped the football federation from signing on the Belgian Tom Saintfeit, as national technical director – ‘in national security interest’.
In the instance of telcos vs. NCC the national question issue has even become indistinctive, especially since Nigeria has no fall back national carrier.
Globacom was awarded a ‘second national carrier’ status, but its posturing in terms of ‘national interest’ is subject for another discuss.
Mobile operators in Nigeria got on the wrong side of the law following failure of key performance indicator (KPI), carried out by the industry watchdog.
In communicating to the telcos on their continued KPI failures, Ms. Josephine Amuwa, Director of legal and regulatory services, and Ubale Maska, Head of compliance monitoring and enforcement at NCC noted that the Commission had noted that the operators quality of services (QoS) performance in the months of January and February 2012 were below the ‘specified thresholds.’
“However, for the purpose of enforcement of the new Quality of Service Regulations, the Commission had taken these periods as grace period.” It subsequently ordered the foursome to pay the cumulative fine of N1.170 Billion for the months of March and April, 2012 on or before May 21, 20112; with a caveat that failure to comply automatically attracts addition N2.5 million daily fines.
As the arguments swung left and right, the way out of the quagmire of poor QoS offered by telcos is for them to first see themselves as ‘service providers’ rather than ‘network operators’.
Hugh Bradlow, chief technology officer of Australia’s Telstra noted that the “telecommunications industry is, at its heart, a service provider business – we just got a bit distracted for a 100 years or so by being ‘network operators’ because we had this large asset that gave us control over services.
So at the heart of the operators have always being – profit – rather than service or so many Nigerians see them.
Profit drives the ‘networks’ to load their system, roll out services even when they are aware of poor QoS as a result of over-capacity utilization leading to network congestions.
Bradlow believes that with the emerging telecom ecosystem occasioned by competing new technologies, telcos should instead “focus on delivering a holistic customer experience that empowers the consumer and business and allow them to get the most out of their services – fixed as well as mobile.”
He spoke at the GSMA Mobile Asia Expo 2012 last week and noted that Telstra is “working on a wide range of partnerships with all sorts of players in the industry, ranging from our large traditional vendors, to new startups to the so-called over-the-top players. We are doing this to ensure that we can deliver the best possible user experience to our customers.”
Perhaps, as often cited by critics, it would do Nigerian operators a world of good if they re-invent their business module to fit into the peculiar operating environment rather than the one-fit-all approach seem to be adopted in a challenging terrain as Nigeria.
It would do them better to present themselves as one-partner-with-Nigeria, rather than businesses that repatriate capital out the Nigerian economy.
The NCC appears to be in a no-win-situation – it would swim or sink with the operators’ overbearing tendencies rather than revert to the pre-GSM Nitel monopoly days. The operators seem aware of the fact that Nigeria has no fall-back backbone; hence they would remain its ‘beautiful bride’.
Franco Bernabe, GSMA chairman is already predicting more growth by 2015 that would see 9.1 billion mobile connections, 4.6 billion subscribers, 3.2 billion mobile broadband connections and 350 million LTE connections, generating $1.9 trillion and providing close to 10 million jobs.
To achieve this goal, Bernabe noted there was need for more investments, condoned by a healthy competitive and fair regulatory environment.
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has ordered all international airlines flying into Nigeria to enforce the $10,000 currency declaration rule.
The authority said the rule is required for passengers to declare cash or negotiable instruments above the limit, as part of efforts to strengthen anti-money laundering compliance.
According to the NCAA, the directive, referenced as NCAA/CPD/ABV/298, dated 24 April 2025 seeks to address gaps in the enforcement of existing currency declaration obligations for inbound passengers.
This was announced in a statement issued by the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, via his official X account on Tuesday.
“International carriers must take two key actions, which include “Make inflight or pre-landing announcements informing passengers of their legal obligation to declare any currency or Bearer Negotiable Instruments exceeding $10,000 USD or its equivalent upon arrival in Nigeria.
“Distribute currency declaration forms onboard for passengers to complete before landing. The NCAA has received reports indicating that some airlines are yet to comply with this directive”, the statement read.
The NCAA said these requirements are consistent with international best practices and are vital to preventing the illegal movement of large sums of money across borders.
The Authority warned that full cooperation from international airlines is essential, saying, “Please note that the cooperation of all international airlines operating in Nigeria is critical to supporting the country’s efforts to align with global financial standards.”
Accordingly, the authority emphasised that full implementation of this directive, particularly as it concerns inbound passenger declarations, is of utmost importance.
“Compliance will be closely monitored, and non-compliant airlines will face appropriate sanctions,” it added.
The court of appeal in Lagos has asked the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to revoke the certificate of registration of “KPMG Professional Services”.
In a unanimous decision delivered on Thursday, the appellant court granted the reliefs sought by KPMG Nigeria against CAC and KPMG Professional Services.
The judgment was read by Abdullahi Mahmud Bayero, the judge.
The two other judges are Abimbola Obaseki-Adejumo and A.M. Talba.
In 2002, KPMG Professional Services was registered as a company with CAC despite the existence of KPMG Nigeria, comprising its audit, tax, and consulting arms.
The KPMG Nigeria has long been registered in Nigeria before 2002.
KPMG Audit was registered in 1969, KPMG Tax Consultants in 1990, and KPMG Consulting in 1969.
Displeased with the registration of KPMG Professional Services, KPMG Nigeria approached the federal high court.
The consulting firm had argued that the name “KPMG Professional Services” was deceptively similar to its long-established identity.
In 2005, the lower court dismissed KPMG Nigeria’s case, citing an alleged merger between KPMG Nigeria and Akintola Williams Deloitte as reason the company could no longer assert rights to the name.
The lower upheld the second respondent’s (KPMG Professional Services) counterclaim and ordered that KPMG Nigeria’s name be struck off the CAC register.
The lower court had premised its decision on newspaper articles stating that KPMG Nigeria reportedly merged with Akintola Williams Deloitte.
Delivering the judgment, Bayero ruled that the lower court erred by relying on newspaper articles to ascertain that KPMG Nigeria allegedly merged with another company.
The judge said the documents showing the alleged merger were not presented before the lower court, and the form of the alleged merger could not have been known.
“In any event, the only branch of KPMG, if any, that entered into a merger with Akintola Williams as stated in the newspaper articles 18, is KPMG Audit,” the judge ruled.
“The other spheres were totally unaffected. It would therefore be wrong to state that the merger (which has not been shown to this Court) of KPMG Audit with Akintola Williams means all the other areas of business, including KPMG Consulting and KPMG Tax Consultants, also ceased to exist.
“Even if the Appellants (KPMG Nigeria) had ceased to do business as the Court seemed to have held, the 2nd Respondents (KPMG Professional Services) should not have been carrying on business until the Appellant’s certificate of registration is withdrawn or set aside.
“They cannot use the name until the Appellant’s certification of registration is withdrawn or set aside. They cannot use the name until the name is removed from the 1st Respondent’s (CAC) Register of Names.
“The 1st Respondents can only assign the name to the 2nd Respondents after first taking it away from the Appellants.”
The court ruled that CAC erred by registering KPMG Professional Services despite the existence of a business name, which is already registered.
The judge reversed the earlier ruling of the lower court and reaffirmed the primacy of statutory protection for existing business names under Nigerian corporate law.
Air Peace has announced the launch of direct flights from Abuja to London Heathrow and Gatwick airports, with operations scheduled to begin on October 26, 2025.
The airline said in a statement on Sunday that round-trip fares for the Abuja–London service will start from N1m, making it the first Nigerian carrier to offer direct connections from the capital to both of London’s major international airports. This was contained in a press release issued on Sunday by the airline’s spokesperson, Efe Osifo-Whiskey.
“Direct international flight services from Abuja to both London Heathrow and London Gatwick Airports, effective October 26, 2025.
“Air Peace becomes the first Nigerian carrier to offer direct services from Abuja to both of London’s major international airports, further solidifying its role as a leader in regional and intercontinental aviation.
“Travellers originating from any of Air Peace’s domestic destinations across Nigeria can now book through fares via Abuja to either Heathrow or Gatwick using a single ticket, eliminating the need for multiple bookings or baggage re-checks,” the statement read.
Similarly, the new route opens convenient access for inbound passengers from the UK to cities across Nigeria.
“Travellers from London can access multiple destinations across Nigeria using a single Air Peace ticket through Abuja every morning. These destinations are Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Benin, Warri, Owerri, Kano, Yola, Gombe and Asaba, for now. Other destinations will be added later,” Osifo-Whiskey stated.
Air Peace is also offering what it describes as unprecedented value in pricing and service.
Osifo-Whiskey said, “It provides a distinct competitive advantage, enabling passengers to travel between Nigeria and the United Kingdom with greater ease, efficiency, and value, due to the possibility of choosing multiple cities entry and exit points.
“Has the cheapest fares ever, starting from only 1 Million Naira round trip. Huge baggage allowance.”
The Abuja–London launch comes months after the airline began Lagos–London Heathrow flights, which started earlier in 2024.
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