TECH DIGEST- The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, has stated that the media holds the ace in promoting credible elections in Nigeria as the campaigns and lead-up to the 2023 general elections intensify.

The governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma, was present at the 18th All-Nigeria Editors Conference, which was organized by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and held at the Concord Hotels in Owerri, Imo State. Danbatta emphasized the significance of the roles played by journalists prior to, during, and following the 2023 elections.

Danbatta expressed his confidence that the dynamic Nigerian media, credited with its sterling performance from the history of the country’s political independence struggle, where Nigerian nationalists who were good journalists made “brilliant and courageous outing,” will work in the interest of the nation in his greeting to the conference, delivered by the Director, Public Affairs of the Commission, Reuben Muoka.

READALSO: NITDA: Nigeria’s Economy Will Undergo a Digital Transition

Speaking on the conference’s theme, “2023: Political Landscape, Credible Elections, and the Role of the Editors,” Danbatta argued that strong journalism is essential to a lasting democratic culture because it promotes political stability.

He said he “believes the editors will leave the conference with resolutions setting clear, unambiguous and very robust parameters to guide the role of the media in the forthcoming elections in a fair, objective and balanced manner.”

“Beyond and above the traditional routine role of the media in information-sharing, education and entertainment, the media is a social agency constitutionally charged to watch those of us in public office from derailing from the pursuit of the social contract and the social good. No other agency of the civil society is so positioned to influence social progress,” he declared.

He also let the group know that the Commission is committed to putting the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (2020-2030) and the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (2020-2025) into action, among other regulatory tools, in order to improve connectivity and social cohesion in the nation. He explained that appropriate infrastructure, such as the next 5G spectrum auction, is therefore intended to increase availability, accessibility, and affordability. There is no question, he claimed, that the presence of communications infrastructure will increase the legitimacy of elections.

In particular, Danbatta thanked the Nigerian media for believing in the NCC and assisting it in carrying out its duties from the very beginning of the shift from “state-dominated telecommunication operations to a deregulated, more liberalized market.”

The post NCC Partners Media to Raise Awareness on Initiatives- Danbatta appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECHDIGEST- Telecoms Record over $70m Investment, 500,000 Jobs in 21 Years
The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has revealed that the telecommunication industry recorded over $70 billion investment in the past 21 years.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Umar Danbatta, disclosed this at the Cyberchain 2022 event on Tuesday in Abuja.

According to a statement released by the NCC spokesperson, Reuben Muorka noted that the NCC boss said “From $500 million investments in the sector as at 2001, the telecommunications industry has recorded over $70 billion investment till date”.

He added that the industry has created over 500,000 formal and informal jobs for Nigerians between 2001 to 2022.

READALSO: Amazon Opens Office In Nigeria

“The sector has provided over 500,000 formal and informal jobs for Nigerians. From an insignificant contribution to GDP in 2001, the telecoms sector, as at the last quarter of 2021, contributed 12.61 per cent to GDP.

Also he said there has been a significant increase in the number of functional phone lines.

“While the growth in the sector has been phenomenal, from some 400,000 functional phone lines in 2001 to over 209 million active mobile subscriptions, achieving a teledensity of 110 per cent, as at August 2022,” he added.

Mr Danbatta said the commission was committed to driving the deployment and adoption of emerging technologies.

A few of these initiatives include Internet of Things (IoT), utilizing Big Data, Blockchain, Robotics and Virtual Reality, Fintech, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and telemedicine, among

The post Telecoms Record over $70m Investment, 500,000 Jobs in 21 Years appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECHDIGEST: The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has awarded fresh research grants and endowed professorial chairs in some Nigerian universities in the sum of N233 million.

From the total sum, N172.5 million was awarded to support 13 proposals found to have met NCC’s criteria for telecommunications-based research. In addition, three universities received N20 million each for endowments of professorial chair by the Commission.

Speaking at the award ceremony, which took place at the Commission’s Head Office in Maitama, Abuja, on Thursday, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Umar Danbatta, said the event demonstrated the commission’s strong resolve in advancing the impact of digital technologies on the national economy, using indigenous products and solutions.

While presenting award letters to the lead researchers, Mr Danbatta said the commission received 55 research proposal that focused on five emerging technology areas, namely: Fifth Generation (5G) deployment; Innovative Clean Energy; Advanced Method of Quality of Service (QoS)/Quality of Experience Management and Test Mechanism; Internet of Things (IoT); Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) Technology; and Monitoring and Localising of Drones.

“After thorough evaluations, 13 proposals were found to have met the stipulated criteria. Indeed, this is a clear testimony to the objectivity and painstaking approach to the evaluation process aimed at ensuring that the best quality is achieved and only researches that could produce prototypes with the potential of providing solutions to both local and global challenges were selected,” Danbatta said as he congratulates the 13 successful research awardees,” he said.

“The Commission has endowed professorial chairs in tertiary institutions across the country, as a mechanism in entrenching innovations in our tertiary institutions, as well as having graduates that are “industry-ready”. The endowment of professorial chairs in universities is one of Commission’s initiatives in supporting the academia to focus on research in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in order to enhance the advancements of emerging technologies,” Mr Danbatta said.
The fresh endowment in the three universities brings to seven, the number of universities that the Commission has endowed professorial chairs. Earlier, the NCC had instituted professorial chairs in Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State; Bayero University, Kano, Kano State; Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi State; and University of Ibadan, Oyo State.

Mr Danbatta said that with the latest awards and endowments, the Commission has committed more than N660 million to Nigerian tertiary institutions for ICT-focused research innovations.

Expressing appreciation on behalf of the beneficiaries, the Vice Chancellor, Usman Danfodio University, Lawal Bilbis, assured the Commission that the funds will be put to judicious use.

The post 13 varsities benefit NCC’s N233m ICT Research Grants appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECHDIGEST: The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Umar Danbatta says the commission is concluding processes to issue the regulations on electronic waste.

Also Read: FG, TikTok Collaborate on Data Transparency, Online Safety

This he says is due to plastic components many ICT and telecom devices possess.

He made this statement in commemoration of the world Consumer Rights Day in Abuja, with the theme tackling Plastic pollution.

The objective of the regulation is to manage e-waste, promote reuse, recycling and other form of recovery, thereby reducing green house emissions and enhancing sustainable development efforts.

The post We’ re set to implement Regulatory processes on E-Waste, says NCC boss appeared first on Tech Digest News.

Speaking at the virtual interactive session with stakeholders on RAS deployment in the Nigerian telecommunications industry, yesterday, in Abuja, the Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, explained that it is a major success in finding a transparent process for an independent assessment, validation and completeness of the Annual Operating Levy (AOL).

Also Read: NCC, infraCos to deploy Fibre infrastructure in 774 LGAs

According to him, the commission does not have an independent way of verifying the AOL payable to NCC by various licensees, adding that NCC only relies on the accounts books, which are not good enough. He stated that NCC would, from the effort, be able to establish whether there are arrears to be paid to the commission.

The NCC boss pointed out that the Federal Government was working assiduously to plug leakages in various revenue streams of Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and optimise the revenue growing from those sources.

Meanwhile, the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared N574.668 billion as January 2022 allocation to the Federal Government, states and local councils.

This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of a virtual meeting of FAAC for February 2022. The revenue comprised distributable statutory revenue of N291.4 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) of N178.066 billion, Exchange Gain of N5.202 billion and Non-Mineral Revenue of N100 billion.
In January 2022, the cost for collection was N25.421 billion and the total deductions for statutory transfers, refunds and savings were N92.767 billion. The balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) was $35.368 million.

The communiqué confirmed that from the N574.668 billion revenue, the Federal Government received N204.580 billion, state governments received N179.251 billion and the local councils received N131.878 billion. A total of N58.959 billion was shared to the relevant states as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

From the statutory revenue of N291.4 billion, the Federal Government received N122.749 billion, the state N62.260 billion and the councils N48 billion. The sum of N58.391billion was shared to the relevant states as 13% derivation revenue.
In the month of January 2022, the gross revenue available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) was N191.222 billion. This was lower than the N201.255 billion available in December 2021 by N10.033 billion.

The sum of N5.507 billion allocation to NEDC and N7.649 billion cost of collection were deducted from the N191.222 billion gross Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue, resulting in the distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N178.066 billion.

From the N178.066 billion distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue, the Federal Government received N26.710 billion, the state N89.033 billion and the councils N62.323 billion.

The Federal Government received N2.441 billion from the total Exchange Gain revenue of N5.202 billion. The states received N1.238 billion, the councils received N955 million and N568 million was shared as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

The post NCC deploys Revenue Assurance Solution to block revenue leakage appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECH DIGEST – Participants at the Nigeria e-Government Summit 2020 have stressed the need for early adoption of technology and increased ICT infrastructure across the country to promote economic growth and e-Government.

The summit, which was held in Lagos recently and organised by DigiServe, had the theme : COVID-19: Impetus for Accelerated e-Government Adoption.

The Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Muhammad Nami, who was represented by the Coordinating Director, FIRS, Mr. Femi Oluwaniyi, said the COVID-19 pandemic, even though it took the world by surprise, brought about the importance and need for technology adoption that would keep citizens in tune with the new normal, where meetings and conferences are now held online and government activities are more accessible online.

According to Nami, “There is need for early adoption of emerging technologies to improve governance and also improve the lives of Nigerians. Small businesses like Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), need to be empowered and government must begin to provide ICT infrastructure that could be leveraged by SMEs to further grow the Nigerian economy digitally.”

He said FIRS was already at the forefront of technology adoption in providing seamless services for tax payers, through the e-Tax and other initiatives of the FIRS.

The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in his keynote address, discussed the importance of technology in developing the Nigerian economy and e-Government across different states of the federation.

The governor who was represented by his deputy, Dr, Obafemi Hamzat, explained how the state is deploying 3,000km Lagos Metro Fibre cables in order to address the shortfall of broadband infrastructure in the state, designed to boost high speed broadband connectivity across the state. “Lagos State will continue to provide leadership for the adoption of relevant technologies that will enhance e-Government and Information Technology (IT) infrastructure spread across the state,” Sanwo-Olu said.

The Executive Chairman, DigiServe Network Services, and convener of the e-Government summit, Mr. Lanre Ajayi, said: “Technology evolution has made it easy for government service delivery and no government can survive effectively without technology application. Nigerians therefore need technology to leverage e-Government services.”

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Pro. Umar Garba Danbatta, said NCC would continue to deepen broadband penetration across the country to enhance high speed broadband connectivity.

According to him, as at September this year, NCC increased broadband penetration to 45.43 per cent, up from a paltry six per cent broadband penetration in 2015.

“Telecoms subscription has reached 205 million and internet subscription has reached 150 million, with over 80 million Nigerians having access to high speed internet access. But in all of these, effective security must be put in place to guard against associated risks, which can affect e-governance, if not checked. NCC is therefore working hard to address cyber insecurity through the establishment of the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), in collaboration with other agencies, to deal with cyberattacks,” Danbatta said.

The Secretary to the State Government of Akwa-Ibom State, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, who represented Akwa-Ibom State Governor, Emmanuel Udom, gave instances how the state government is leveraging technology to provide healthcare and education services across the state.

“Through technology, the state was able to establish remote healthcare services, where medical practitioners attend to patients in remote locations of the state, without physical contact. The same goes to the education sector where the state is leveraging technology to promote online education in the state,” Ekuwem said.

The post ‘Early Technology Adoption Will Promote Economic Growth And E-Govt’ appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECH DIGEST – The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, was hosted yesterday hosted by the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) Kaduna, where telecom issues were discussed.

Specifically, the NCC Boss at the popular programme tagged “Hannu da yawa” spoke on a wide range of issues affecting the telecommunications industry, especially connectivity and telecom consumer protection.

The programme was anchored by the duo of Yusuf Zain Dogara and Abba Bashir.
Danbatta used the opportunity to disclose milestones already recorded under his leadership in the last five years through a diligent implementation of the NCC’s Strategic Vision Plan (SVP) anchored on an 8-Point Agenda for ensuring service availability, accessibility and affordability to Nigerians.

He also answered questions on a wide range of issues affecting telecoms industry, especially those bordering on consumer-related issues, where he provided answers to various questions asked by the two anchors and those received directly through a phone-in from listening consumers, who took advantage of the EVC’s appearance on the radio programme to clarify issues and raise their concerns on telecommunications services receivee from their respective networks.

The EVC used the opportunity to inform the consumers on various NCC’s consumer-centric initiatives such as the NCC’s toll-free Number 622, the Do-Not-Disturb (DND) 2442 Short Code, the 112 Emergency Communications Number, among others. He also educated the consumers on how these facilities can be used to protect themselves from unwholesome practices by the networks.

He re-emphasised NCC’s commitment to creating a more competitive telecom market to achieve increased connectivity among Nigerians as well and strengthening initiatives at protecting the over 205 million telecoms consumers in the country.

The post Radio Nigeria Kaduna Discusses Telecoms Industry Issues With NCC appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECH DIGEST – The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta has posited that there is the need for ethical leadership in order to realise the dream of economic growth using the fourth industrial revolution, also known as 4IR.

The NCC Boss posited this while delivering a speech at the 2020 Hybrid (ONLINE/ONSITE) Annual Directors Conference (ADC) organised By The Institute Of Directors (IoD) two days ago.

Describing the 4IR as the age of intelligence and encompasses technologies like high-speed mobile Internet, Artificial Intelligence, automation, the use of big data analytics and cloud computing, Danbatta noted that 4IR is the evolved new ways of doing things to ensure economic sustainability.

“The possibilities provided by the 4IR are limitless and can generate employment for Nigeria’s teeming youth population. Therefore, in order to achieve economic growth using the 4IR there is the need for ethical leadership,” he emphasised.

He explained that the 4IR is the information and digital economy age which if properly enhanced and exploited can serve as a major revenue earner for the Country in the post-oil era. This is because, according to him while natural resources such as oil, gas, etc are finite, data and information are infinite.

He however highlighted the major constraint in Nigeria facing the 4IR to include the inadequacy of digital skills, infrastructure deficit, enabling environment and inadequate infrastructure.

Speaking on what government is doing to address these challenges, the former University lecturer disclosed that the Federal Government in its bid to ensure economic growth and sustainability has collaborated with the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) to discuss issues and challenges facing the development of Nigeria with a view to developing and harmonizing ideas towards diversification and sustaining the economy.

In addition, the National Sustainability Committee chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, developed a National Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP). The plan is aimed at overcoming the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, enhancing oil and non-oil revenues, creation of a financial stimulus package for the Nigerian economy, support for MSMEs and the creation of jobs.

The post Danbatta Preaches Ethical Leadership To Realise Fourth Industrial Revolution appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECH DIGEST – The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday with met with various stakeholders drawn from the country’s teleom industry in a bid to secure their buy-in towards achieving the targets of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP), 2020-2025.

Speaking at the meeting, held at the Communications & Digital Economy Complex in Abuja, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission Prof. Umar Danbatta called on the Ministry of Communications & Digital Economy and its agencies, as well as the industry stakeholders to work together towards the attainment of the set goals of attaining 70 percent broadband target in the next five years.

“The NNBP 2020-2025 has, once again, identified initiatives to be implemented by different stakeholders in order to achieve the set objectives of the plan. The importance of broadband to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), socio-economic development, and especially the digital economy, cannot be over-emphasized,” said Danbatta, who was represented by NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Technical Services and Chairman, Broadband Implementation Steering Committee (BISC), Engr. Ubale Maska.

At the event, which is the second of the multi-stakeholder consultation process by the BISC, Danbatta noted that the 30 percent broadband targets set in the previous NNBP 2013-2018 were met and surpassed due to “our collective efforts, policy direction, regulation and financial commitment by industry players.

He said there were, however, some targets that were not met in the previous plan because of various challenges that are presently being addressed.

In his welcome address, the Vice Chairman of BISC, Dr. Usman Abdullahi, said the forum was to avail the industry players and representatives of government a veritable platform to collaborate, and discuss ways to accelerate broadband implementation for sustainable development of the telecommunications sector and advancement of the digital economy.

Project Director, BISC, Abubakar Maina, made a presentation providing information to stakeholders on previous and new targets, timelines, milestones, strategic pillars, initiatives in the pillars, as well as governance structure in the new broadband plan.

The forum was well attended by industry operators, especially the Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos) both physically and virtually, who gave useful inputs for steering the course of implementation of the new broadband plan to success.

President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier this year unveiled the new broadband plan, following the development of the plan by a committee, set up by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami on December 16, 2019.
As a follow-up, on July 9, 2020, the Minister, inaugurated the BISC, which is primarily saddled with the responsibility of ensuring effective monitoring of the implementation of the new broadband plan.

The post Danbatta Seeks industry Stakeholders Inputs To Meet Five Years Broadband Target appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECH DIGEST – The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says it had granted approval for two mobile network operators, MTN Nigeria and 9Mobile, to carry out trials on the workability of embedded Subscriber Identification Modules (e-SIM) service in Nigeria.

It said the trials, approved to run for a period of one year, would involve testing 5,000 e-SIMs by the two networks, subject to compliance with a number of regulatory conditions.

The conditions outlined in a statement issued in Abuja by the Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Ikechukwu Adinde, includes full compliance by the mobile network operators with the Registration of Telecoms Subscribers Regulations 2011.

Others include the Mobile Number Portability Regulations and Business Rules 2015; Guidelines on SIM Replacement 2017; and non-degradation of the quality of service experience by users of e-SIMs.

The commission’s Executive Vice Chairman, Umar Danbatta, said the primary objective of the e-SIM trial was to assess the technical performance of the e-SIM on telecoms service providers’ network towards eventual rollout, if satisfactory.

An e-SIM is a small chip that is embedded on a mobile phone or a smart device. It is designed for convenience, flexibility and simplicity.

The e-SIM makes it easier for subscribers to choose a pre-paid plan provider and switch between network operators.

The post NCC Approves e-SIM Trial for MTN, 9Mobile appeared first on Tech Digest News.