ICT, telecom sectors in 2017

Etisalat debt issue  The biggest telecom sector news of 2017 was the $547m Etisalat (now 9mobile) debt issue. The telco ran into problem early this year when it defaulted in repaying the loan it took from some banks in the country. The Nigerian authorities waded in to prevent a forceful takeover, but its United Arab […]

Etisalat debt issue 

The biggest telecom sector news of 2017 was the $547m Etisalat (now 9mobile) debt issue. The telco ran into problem early this year when it defaulted in repaying the loan it took from some banks in the country. The Nigerian authorities waded in to prevent a forceful takeover, but its United Arab Emirates partners left and took away the brand name Etisalat. This forced the company to take a new name: 9mobile.

Though the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had said a new owner would take over the company on December 31, this didn’t happen as at the time of filing this report. 

ICT sector’s quarterly contribution to GDP increased to N1.6trn in 2017

The quarterly contribution of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased to N1.6 trillion in 2017, the Nigerian Communications Commission said.

MTN recorded first annual loss in 20 years

Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator, MTN Group, recorded its first annual loss in two decades, due to a regulatory fine in Nigeria and unfavourable currency rates.

MTN agreed to pay a fine of N330 billion ($1.1 billion), reduced from $5.2 billion, in June 2016 after a prolonged legal battle to end a dispute in Nigeria over missing a deadline to cut off unregistered SIM cards.

Emergency declared on QOS 

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in 2017 declared a state of emergency on the deteriorating quality of telecom services in the country. 

The NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman, Prof Umar Danbatta, who declared the emergency at a meeting with telecom operators in Abuja, said the commission had put measures in place to check and monitor QoS on various networks.

“Our taskforce on QoS has been interacting with governments at different levels as part of the measures to deal with the poor QoS,” he said.

Telecom subscribers spent N197bn monthly on internet data in 2017

Telecoms subscribers in Nigerian spent over N197 billion on internet data every month in 2017,  Daily Trust’s analysis of mobile users’ average data usage per month showed 

NCC remitted N133.4bn to federation account

The NCC said it remitted a total sum of N133,426,062,786 to the consolidated revenue fund of the Federal Government in the last two years. 

The WannaCry attack

The WannaCry cyber-attacks spread across the world, hitting technologically advanced countries in May this year.  More than 200,000 computers were affected. Computer giant Microsoft said the attack should serve as a wake-up call. The National Information Development Agency (NITDA) advised banks and other private establishments to upgrade their IT systems to forestall any possible attack.

FG outlawed open registration of SIM cards 

The Federal Government made it illegal for telecom operators or their representatives to do registration of SIM cards in open or uncontrolled environment.

NCC said the government, through the commission, had issued a directive to all telecom operators since November 2016 to stop their agents from registering SIM cards under umbrellas and in kiosks effective from February 1, 2017.

No restriction on social media 

The Federal Government said it would not restrict access to social media. But the social media space must be regulated to guard against abuse, it quickly added.

“Social media has suddenly turned most people who are not trained to journalists. It is important for government to pay attention to feedbacks from social media, review good practices and discuss issues relating to effective use of social media in Nigeria.’’

“Government will not limit Nigerians’ access to social media simply because of abuses. Nigerians must use it to express their views. Government will ensure easy interactive platform for the dissemination of its achievements”, the minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, said.

Smart Nigeria 

The Federal Government said it was embarking on Smart City project to leverage on technology solutions to improve efficiency of cities across the country.

It said with the development of new technological innovations -mainly ICTs – the concept of the “Smart City” has emerged as a means to achieve more efficient and sustainable cities. 

‘MDAs’ websites obsolete’

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) said most of the MDAs’ websites were not in conformity with standards and guidelines for government websites. It said most of them did not have feedback and information necessary to facilitate ease of doing business.

“For instance, only 25% and 37% of the websites have reachable phone numbers and email addresses respectively. In addition, some of the websites do not have complete list of website links of the agencies under their supervision and the content outdated”, Dr Isa Pantami, the DG said.

N720bn annual loss in satellite agencies 

Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT) had a mutual backup service MOU with Berlintersat, Minsk, Belarus, in a bid to stop N720 billion annual loss to lack of patronage of the country’s satellites.

Daily Trust had reported exclusively that government agencies and private firms refused to patronise NIGCOMSAT satellite due to non-availability of a backup satellite. The report said Nigeria loses N720 billion annually due to lack or low patronage of the country’s satellites.

NIMC issued NIN to 21.3m Nigerians

 The number of Nigerians registered into the national identity database and issued with the National Identification Number (NIN) rose  to 21.360 million in 2017, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) said.

The new enrolment figure was reached as at the close of work on 6th September, 2017, the NIMC’s Director General/CEO, Engr. Aliyu Aziz, said. 

Only 5 ECC functioned across Nigeria in 2017

The NCC said only five of the 37 Emergency Communication Centres (ECC) functioned across the country in 2017.

But the commission said work was ongoing in making the 32 other centres operational “very soon.”   

The ECC project was intended to bridge the communication gap between the distressed and emergency response agencies in the country.