project change9ja

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday spoke publicly for the first time on the $5.2bn fine imposed on MTN Group by the Nigerian Communications Commission, saying the concern of his government is not about the penalty but on the security implication of the telecommunication firm’s inaction.  The firm was sanctioned by the regulatory agency for failing to register some SIM cards. Buhari spoke while answering a question during a joint press conference he addressed alongside visiting South African President, Jacob Zuma, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.  The President explained that because members of the Boko Haram sect were using unregistered SIM cards, MTN contributed to the casualties recorded by the sect because of its inaction. He said, “The concern of the Federal Government was basically on the security and not the fine imposed on MTN.  “You know how the unregistered GSM (SIM cards) are being used by terrorists and between 2009 and today...

The Managing Director (MD), Spectranet Ltd., Mr David Venn, on Wednesday said Nigerians would no longer pay for calls and Short Message Services (SMS), on mobile networks before the end of 2019. Venn made this prediction at an interactive session with newsmen in Lagos. He noted that with the fast growing usage of social media applications, such as Skype, Imo, Whatsapp, BlackBerry Messenger, Facebook Messenger, telecommunications had allowed subscribers to use their data service to make calls and sms. Venn said subscribers spend a lot of money buying credit to make voice calls, send SMS and also subscribe to data services at the same time on a particular network. He explained that even though subscribers still patronised voice and SMS services from the mobile operators, data service was cost- effective, faster to send SMS and make voice calls. Venn noted that presently, data service providers had been improving on the broadband network provided to customers d...

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday barred Nigeria’s largest telecommunications company, MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, from moving abroad funds it has in Nigerian banks.  The court made the pronouncement while hearing a suit in connection with the N1.4 trillion fine imposed on the company by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).  The Federal Government brought a motion to restrain the 21 commercial banks, in which MTN has funds, from releasing money to the telecommunications giant.  “The FG seeks an order of Mareva injunction [a court order which requests assets be frozen] restraining the aforementioned banks from releasing, making a sale, transferring, or paying any of the monies maintained by the plaintiff MTN,” the motion read in part.  Justice Mohammed Idris ordered parties to maintain status quo. “An order is hereby made directing the parties cited herein to maintain the status quo ante bellum pending further hearing,” t...

South African telecoms giant MTN said Thursday it would launch a court challenge against the $3.9 billion fine that Nigeria has ordered it to pay by December 31 for failing to disconnect unregistered users. MTN, in a statement to shareholders today, said it decided to take this route after exhausting all other options to have the fine reduced. MTN said that "All factors having a bearing on the matter have been thoroughly and carefully considered, including a review of the circumstances leading to the fine and the subsequent letters received from the NCC." "MTN Nigeria, acting on legal advice, has resolved that the manner of the imposition of the fine and the quantum thereof is not in  accordance with the NCC's powers under the Nigerian Communications Act and therefore there are valid grounds upon which to challenge the fine." Details soon..

On the morning of Jan. 1, 2016, anyone with a cell phone more than five years old will be unable to access the encrypted web — which includes sites like Facebook, Google, and Twitter — according to a new plan to upgrade the way those sites are verified. It might not be a big deal in New York or San Francisco, where a 5-year-old phone is treated as an antique, but in some parts of the developing world up to 7% of internet users could find themselves suddenly cut off from the world’s most popular sites, according to research recently published by Facebook and CloudFlare. A full country list, showing the percentage of people who will be cut off, is on CloudFlare’s blog, but some of the most affected countries will be Yemen (5.25% of browsers), Egypt (4.8%), and China, with over 6% of the country no longer being able to safely access encrypted sites. It might not seem like a lot, but Prince says over 37 million people could be affected. These are some of the numbe...

THE Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that the December 31, 2015 deadline given to MTN Nigeria to pay its N780bn fine imposed on the telecom company for violating the regulatory body’s directive on SIM deactivation remains sacrosanct.  The NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Prof Umar Garba Dambatta, made the declaration on Sunday in Kano while speaking during a reception organised by members of his community in Dambatta Local Government Area of Kano on his new appointment According to him, MTN must meet the payment deadline and the telecommunication outfit must know that by the ending of this year, the fine must have been paid. The NCC had recently made clarification on the initial 35 per cent reduction from the N1.4tr fine amounting to N647 billion.  He, however, stated that the actual reduction approved by the Presidency was 25 per cent, which amounts to N780 billion for the company’s inability to deactivate 5.2 million SIM cards.  Prof.Da...