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  • Banks Owe Telcos N42bn For USSD Services, Says NCC

    Banks Owe Telcos N42bn For USSD Services, Says NCC

     

    Deposit Money Banks owe telecommunications companies N42bn for services provided by the mobile network operators through the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, the Nigerian Communications Commission has announced.

     

    Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, announced this during his lecture at the virtual 2021 edition of the Bullion Lecture.

     

    He explained that the indebtedness of the banks to mobile network operators had been an issue over time, but stressed that the NCC was working hard to address the concern.

     

    Danbatta said, “The issue of the USSD has become an issue between the telcos and the banks. The telecommunication companies provide the infrastructure which the banks leverage on to provide banking services of all kinds.

     

    “Therefore it is expected that for this service someone should pay. No service is free. The investment in infrastructure that is driving the USSD service is a huge investment that the telcos made.”

     

    The NCC boss added, “It is expected that they (telcos) will recoup their investments in order to continue and to expand the service. About N42bn that is owed the telcos has not been paid by the banks for the provision of this service.”

     

    Danbatta said the telecommunications firms could not withdraw their services to the banks because such action would not go down well with the Federal Government.

     

    He said, “The telecommunications companies cannot unilaterally withdraw this service because it will be seen as a subversive act, undermining the digital inclusion strategy of the present government.

     

    “And no government will sit back and watch while services that empower citizens are being tampered with or withdrawn. No government will standby and watch this to happen.”

     

    To address the situation, Danbatta said the NCC would soon engage the DMBs and ensure that the matter was resolved.

     

    “So in the next couple of days, we are poised to engage the banks and ensure we reach an amicable resolution where the first item on the agenda that will feature is the payment of this N42bn accumulated debts to the telecommunications companies.

     

    The NCC boss further stated that it was important for the country to meet the critical requirements needed in order to succeed in its drive towards digital inclusion in Nigeria.

     

    He said digital financial services were offered through the use of a mobile phone, which many residents in rural areas could not afford.

     

    “They (rural residents) need phones that are affordable and therefore we must direct our resource in a manner that will bring affordable handsets to the rural population,” Danbatta stated.

  • We Didn’t Allocate 383 Million New Phone Numbers To Operators In Q1 2021 — NCC

    We Didn’t Allocate 383 Million New Phone Numbers To Operators In Q1 2021 — NCC

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has denied media report that the commission has allocated 383 million new telephone numbers to operators.

     

    NCC, in a disclaimer signed by Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, Director, Public Affairs, said the news story published by a national daily wrongly interpreted an update report on National Numbering Plan, posted by the Commission on its official website.

     

    The commission stated, “Specifically, the report published by the media outfit with the headline: “NCC allocates 383 million new telephone numbers to operators,” purported that the Commission allocated 383 million new telephone lines to telecoms service providers in the first quarter of 2021 alone.

     

    ‘’For the avoidance of doubt, the update report posted on the Commission’s website on Friday 19th, February, 2021, under the heading: National Numbering Plan (2021 Q1), was the Total Number of Telephone Numbers allocated to all the telecommunications services providers since the inception of digital mobile services in the country in 2001.

     

    “The update report is, therefore, by no means, either an indication of new allocation or new activation of telephone numbers in Q1 2021, as wrongly interpreted by the media outfit.”

     

    According to NCC, “rather, the report on the Commission’s website titled: ‘National Numbering Plan (2021 Q1)’ is a routine periodic report issued as part of the Commission’s regulatory mandate to publish and update all telephone numbers allocated to service providers for the benefit of stakeholders.

     

    ‘’The purpose of the National Numbering Plan in the telecommunications sector is to set up a uniform numbering scheme and the associated dialing procedures to be used in the networks to allow the subscribers and operators to set up calls.

     

    “The general public and all our stakeholders are advised to disregard the said report in the national daily and be guided accordingly.

     

    “While we appreciate the good intention of our media stakeholders in terms of timely reportage of NCC and its regulatory activities, we, however, encourage them to always fact-check their stories with the Commission for accurate reporting.

     

    “We also use this opportunity to remind our esteemed media stakeholders that the Commission runs an Open-House system. We encourage them to always feel free to contact the Commission for necessary clarification on NCC’s regulatory activities and reports published on its website before going to press.”

  • NCC Assigns 383 Million New Telephone Numbers to Telcos

    NCC Assigns 383 Million New Telephone Numbers to Telcos

    The Nigerian Communications Commission has provided 382.94 million new telephone numbers for the use of telecommunications operators.

    The commission assigned the numbers to 34 licensed telecom operators in the first quarter of 2021, as contained in the NCC’s Q1 2021 National Numbering Plan released on Friday.

     

    The numbering plan is used to allocate a unique national number to each subscriber connected to the national telephone system.

     

    According to the NCC, the purpose of the NNP is to set up a uniform numbering scheme and the associated dialing procedures to be used in the network to allow subscribers and operators to set up calls.

     

    Some of the operators with national and state licences listed are 21st Century Technologies, Airtel Networks, Big Picture Nigeria, Intercellular Nigeria Limited, EMTS Limited (9 Mobile), Globacom, iPNX Nigeria Limited and MTN Nigeria Communications.

     

    The states and cities where some of these telephone lines would be used by the operators include Lagos, Abuja, Abeokuta, Warri, Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt, Uyo, Ijebu-Ode, Benin, Asaba, Zaria, Ibadan, Onitsha, Akwa, Aba, Owerri, among others.

     

    A 100 million new lines were assigned to Airtel Networks to be used nationally, while 50 million new numbers were assigned to EMTS Limited (9Mobile) nationally as well.

     

    Globacom Limited was allocated 46,000 new telephone numbers to use in Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, Ijebu-Ode, Ijebu-Ode, Abeokuta, Benin, Warri, Asaba, Kaduna, Kano, Minna, Zaria and Port Harcourt. Glo Mobile, a subsidiary of Globacom, was given 70 million new lines for nationwide use.

     

    MTN (Mobile Lines) was assigned 123 million new telephone numbers for national use, while MTN (fmr Visafone) was given 9.05 million new numbers for different states. MTN Nig. Comm Plc (Fixed Lines) had 25,000 lines for Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, Ilorin, Warri, Kaduna, Aba, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Yenagoa.

     

    Earlier this month, the NCC reported a loss of 3.30 million active subscribers in December 2020.

     

    The regulatory agency had directed telecommunications companies in the country to suspend the sale and reactivation of new SIM cards.

     

    The number of subscribers to Nigeria’s mobile telecommunications services reduced to 204.22 million in December, against 207.53 million GSM users recorded in November.

     

    Also, the number of connected telephone lines in the country was 286.52 million as at the end of July 2020, of which 199.30 million were active lines.

     

    The NCC recorded 198.96 million active GSM lines, 107,860 active fixed wired/wireless lines and 238,575 active VoIP lines. The commission also put Nigeria’s teledensity at 104.41 in July 2020.