NCC STOPS GLO FREE DATA PROMO

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has stopped Globacom Nigeria’s plans to offer free data to all its subscribers on Friday, August 11, 2017.

This was contained in a letter signed by Sunday Dare, NCC Commissioner for Stakeholder Management, for Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman, on Tuesday.

The commission explained that the promotion was not in line with what was approved by the regulator.

Glo had annouced that eligible subscribers, will enjoy as much as 200 megabytes of data for free, in what it called the “free data day”.

“Please refer to the commission’s letter dated 14th March, 2017 conveying approval for your Glo overload promotion. It has however come to our notice that Globacom Nigeria Ltd has been implementing the above regulatory approval in breach especially given your recent media campaign on the ‘Glo free data offer’, a clear departurre from terms and condition of the approval given for the Glo overload promotion

“Consequent upon the above, you are hereby directed to suspend implementation of the Glo overload promotion from your network with immediate effect,” the letter read.

Lagos Rocks as NCC Launched YEAR OF THE NIGERIAN TELECOM CONSUMER Campaign

The Agidingbi neighbourhood and the adjourning settlements felt the unusual presence of persons of all status yesterday when the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, stormed The Blue Roof Events Centre to unveil the YEAR OF THE NIGERIAN TELECOM CONSUMER campaign, earlier launched in Abuja on March 15, 2017, the day set aside by the global community as the World Consumer Rights Day.

Professor Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NCC, told the audience in Lagos that the Nigerian telecom consumer represents the organic springboard of the exponential growth in the telecom industry in Nigeria, adding that the consumers as a collective “made all the success stories we speak about in telecom possible” and thus deserve special attention.

“Today’s event emphasizes the centrality of Lagos State as the telecommunications hub of Nigeria. The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics in its first quarter telecommunications sector report for 2016 placed Lagos voice subscriber base at 19.04 million or 12.8% of the country’s subscribers, and 12.62 million Internet subscriptions or 13.65%. The state is home to many of the key players in the telecommunications sector so it is understandable that is has been selected as the flag off city after the major event in Abuja on March 15 2017”, Danbatta told a medley of elated and enthusiastic audience including the representative of the Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Right Honourable Mudashiru Obasa, former Minister of Defence, Honourable Ademola Seriki, top management staff of NCC and the telecom companies as well as a broad spectrum of other stakeholders.     

The campaign, Danbatta emphasized, was conceptualized by NCC to amplify the education of the consumer on several initiatives instituted by the Commission to improve the Quality of Service (QoS), to protect and educate the consumer on steps to be taken to redress the challenges of telecom subscription, and thus reiterate the position of the consumer as the preeminent stakeholder of the telecom industry.    

Earlier, the NCC’s Executive Commissioner Stakeholder Management, Mr. Sunday Dare, had indicated in his remark at the occasion that the drivers of the NCC 2017 Year of the Nigerian Telecom Consumer campaign are the 2442 Do-Not-Disturb Service Code, the 622 toll free complaints line, Quality of Service (QoS), and correcting misrepresentations about Electromagnetic Field (EMF) radiation. These are the areas the information provided in the course of the campaign would focus on.

Danbatta proceeded to amplify this position and referenced the 8-Point Agenda of NCC Management as the originating compass for the initiative particularly items TWO and SIX that speak to improving QoS, and protecting the consumer. He emphasized that the Commission is closely monitoring, tracking and reviewing the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of operators and promised that greater efforts would also be put in place to ensure compliance monitoring and enforcement of set standards.

Yesterday’s event, where many consumers went away with fantastic prizes, signified another milestone in the campaign which also involves Consumer Conversation - a replica of the municipal campaigns that takes place concurrently in semi-urban and rural areas, and essentially driven by NCC zonal offices across the nation.

NCC, CBN prevail on banks against take-over of Etisalat

Reprieve appears to have come the way of embattled telecoms operator, Etisalat Nigeria, which three Nigerian banks, Wednesday, got approval to take over after it allegedly failed to repay a loan of over N541 billion it secured from them in 2015.

This is after the telecoms regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, and its banking sector counterpart, Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, yesterday, waded into the matter again. The meeting between Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, and their teams, was held at the CBN headquarters in Abuja.
The meeting was said to have been convened by the CBN at the instance of NCC, to further deliberate on how best to stave off the attempt by the banks to take over Etisalat.

It was gathered that at the end of the meeting, CBN agreed to invite Etisalat management and the banks to a meeting today, towards finding an amicable resolution. The NCC, as a regulator of the telecoms industry, had moved quickly to intervene earlier in the week by reaching out to the CBN, convinced of the negative impact such a bank take over will have on the industry.
NCC said it was worried about the fate of the over 20 million Etisalat subscribers and the wrong signals this may send to potential investors in the telecoms industry. The three Nigerian banks owed by Etisalat are Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank and Zenith Bank. Despite earlier interventions by the telecom regulator, the banks got approval to take over the telecoms company, effective last Wednesday.

A close source at NCC stated that the commission tried its best to ensure the situation didn’t degenerate to take over of the telecoms company but the pressure from the banks became so intense that it had to allow the action. The source said the issue had lingered for a while, with the NCC believing it could provide some middle ground for both parties to come to a truce but unfortunately, the banks feared that inability to recover the loan could expose them to the Asset Management Company of Nigeria, AMCON, which had been demanding immediate cut down on the rate of their non-performing loans.
The loan facility, totalling $1.72 billion (about N541.8 billion) involving a foreign-backed guaranty bond, was for Etisalat to turn around its network and expand its operations in Nigeria. However, the banks claimed that Etisalat has failed to service the debt as was agreed since 2016. They subsequently reported Etisalat to banking sector regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and its communications sector counterpart, the NCC.
There were also reports as at Wednesday that Etisalat Nigeria was seriously in talks with local banks to renegotiate the terms of the $1.2 billion loan.

The latest development, may not be far from the strategies it took to avert the embarrassment of being taken over by the banks.

NCC Shuts Down Buhari’s Campaign Fund Raising Platform

The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has shut down the 35350 SMS platform for raising fund for the General Muhammed Buhari presidential campaign.
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Airtel Launches WHATSAPP Data Application Packages To Subscribers.

In line with its commitment to offering best telecoms experience to Nigerians, leading telecoms services provider, Airtel Nigeria has introduced “WhatsApp” data application packages to its subscribers.
This follows a cross-promotion agreement with “WhatsApp Inc.” that secured for Airtel Nigeria the exclusive right to launch “WhatsApp” packages in Nigeria.
To access the Airtel “WhatsApp” bundle, customers are to dial *948# at N100/month to enjoy the service exclusively on Airtel platform. Please click to continue.
Speaking on the new offer, Olu Akanmu, the Chief Marketing Officer of Airtel Nigeria, described the “WhatsApp” data bundle service asthe first of its kind in the country. He said that it would provide great a channel to connect Nigerian youths to their friendswith unlimited access.

According to him, the new package,which is available to all prepaid subscribers,attractsno deductions from the user's data bundle or airtime balance.

“Coming at a time when we are about to start Mobile Number Portability in Nigeria, and with our robust 3.75g broadband strength spread over 180 cities across the country, our customers have just been handed another winner in our collection of bespoke data services throughWhatsApp. We shall continue to push harder to realize our vision of becoming the most loved brand in the daily lives of Nigerians”.

Customers who activate data bundles of 200MB or more can also enjoy unlimited access to “WhatsApp” withouthaving to pay for the value-added service.
“WhatsApp” is considered one of the most popular mobile applications worldwide, owned by “WhatsApp Inc.” The application allows instant chat features, file & location sharing and more via smart phones through the Internet.”
About Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. With headquarters in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 5 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G services, fixed line, high speed broadband through DSL, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G mobile services. Bharti Airtel had over 264 million customers across its operations at the end of July 2012. To know more please visit, www.airtel.com

For further enquiries please contact:
James Eze | Head, Public Relations | Airtel Nigeria | M : (+234) 802 222 0344 |O : (+234) 802 190 0344 http://ng.airtel.com | Airtel Head Office, L2 Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria

Emeka Oparah | Director, Corporate Communications & CSR | Airtel Africa | M : (+234) 802 222 1120 |O : (+234) 802 192 1120|E : Emeka.Oparah@ng.airtel.com |W: http://ng.airtel.com | Airtel HQ, Plot L2, Foreshores Estate, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria