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Cost Prohibitive for Broadband Revolution – Garg

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Anurag Garg is managing director of Direct On PC, a leading Internet Service Provider in the Nigeria.
Garg joined DOPC eight years ago from Zenith Computer Limited, India and he has vast knowledge of the country’s internet service market having served as chief operating officer of the Company before his appointment as managing director in 2010.
He spoke to chike onwuegbuchi on issues around growing internet service market in the country and refocusing of the company’s business.

Direct on PC offload of 4G Business to Swift Networks

Currently, we are fully focused on providing services to corporate & enterprise customers.
 We are providing customized hybrid solutions using satellite and terrestrial networks like fibre and radio.

Why Offload
Offloading 4G services was a strategic decision which we took last year.
Earlier we were dealing in all segments of the market covering from home users to enterprise class customers.
This somehow was shadowing full utilization of our core strength in providing enterprise class services.
So, we decided to hive out the retail business and decided to fully focus on corporate & enterprise customers.
This decision has enabled us in better utilization of resources.

Were Abuja and Port Harcourt  4G Services Sold Too?
Entire 4G services were handed over to Swift.
Service network in Abuja and PHC was rather small.
As per information to me, Swift is working on the network to upgrade and launch the services in these cities again.

Higher Bandwidth for Your Enterprise Customers,
Demand for high speed internet and VPN connections is increasing. As I mentioned earlier, understanding of enterprise business is our core strength.
We know that enterprise customers need rugged connections with high speed and low latency. At the same time, due to slowness in economy, these customers are not able to spend more on their IT or connectivity requirements.
Keeping this in mind, we have invested into making our services more bandwidth efficient which gave us the edge of providing increased bandwidth to our enterprise customers without increasing their expense on the services.
We are getting very good feedback from the customers who have appreciated this upgrade.
 
NCC’s Auction of 2.3Ghz Spectrum
In my opinion, issuing more spectrum is always good for the market as it broadens the scope of providing better services to the market.
At the same time; how it’ll assist in the quest for broadband revolution depends on; how soon and at what level the services will be rolled out using the issued frequency spectrum.
 
ISPs Avoiding Last Mile Services and Preference for Corporate Customers
Last mile service is always involved whether an ISP is serving to retail customers or to corporate customers. Various ISPs are playing in their respective areas.
There are some ISPs which are only concentrating on retail services while some others are catering to corporate customers only.
I think; the key lies in utilising and building up on the core strength of any ISP.
 
Undersea Cables and Cost Reduction
You are right that lot of internet cables have reached Lagos and ample capacity is available on these cables.
We have 5 undersea cables reaching Lagos now but the problem is on the terrestrial distribution part.
For providing the benefit of this huge capacity to all Nigerians, the bandwidth needs to be carried from Lagos to various parts of the country. And for an ISP today, the cost of leasing capacity from Lagos to Port Harcourt is more than the cost of leasing the capacity from London to Lagos.
So, while people across Nigeria keep listening that more and more fibre is coming and the cost of bandwidth is going down, the benefit doesn’t really reach them.
Apart from this; in-country terrestrial network is highly unreliable in terms of uptimes. We, as an ISP, keep facing fibre cuts which hamper the flow of data traffic from Lagos to other upcountry locations.
For providing high uptimes to customers, we need to have back-up fibre or VSAT which further adds to the cost.
So, due to all these, you don’t see the real effect of ample bandwidth in upcountry locations.

Intention to Launch Mass Market Services
The decision of carving out our 4G services was based on our strategy of focusing on the core strength of enterprise services.
As of now, we do not intend to start mass market services and the plan is to rather grow our enterprise business by bringing latest technology to the market and by providing customized solutions to the corporate customers.


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Lagos Targets Vulnerable Residents in Expanded Social Register

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Lagos State Government has intensified efforts to strengthen its social protection framework with a fresh push to update the state’s Single Social Register.

Lagos Targets Vulnerable Residents in Expanded Social Register

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor, Lagos

This was contained in a press statement on the government’s Facebook page on Wednesday.

The initiative, led by the Lagos State Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, formed the focus of a strategic engagement held on Monday with Community-Based Targeting teams, local government coordinators and field enumerators across the state’s 57 Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas.

The meeting, themed “Closing the Gap: Accelerating Lagos State Single Social Register Update,” took place at the Radio Lagos Multipurpose Hall in Agidingbi, Ikeja.

Officials said the exercise is aimed at improving the accuracy and reach of the register, which serves as a critical tool for planning and delivering targeted social interventions, including financial support, healthcare and education services.

Speaking at the session, Ope George, commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, commended field workers for their commitment while urging them to scale up their efforts.

He called on participants to be “more intentional by intensifying their commitment,” reaffirming the government’s resolve to “continuously strengthen and refine the Register to reflect evolving realities.”

Also speaking, Olayinka Ojo, permanent secretary in the ministry, described the register as central to effective governance and service delivery.

She said “it remains a cornerstone for effective planning and delivery of social intervention programmes,” adding that the ongoing update is designed to “further enhance data reliability, coordination, and service delivery outcomes.”

Ojo noted that sensitisation efforts would be expanded across all councils to ensure wider inclusion of residents, stating that “the advocacy and sensitisation will scale throughout the 57 LGAs and LCDA to give more to Lagos residents.”

According to the government, the updated register is expected to expand access to social protection programmes and improve the targeting of interventions for the most vulnerable populations.

The engagement also provided a platform for stakeholders to strengthen collaboration, improve data quality and reinforce transparency in grassroots data collection.

The state government reiterated its commitment to leveraging accurate data and partnerships to drive inclusive development, reduce vulnerability and improve living standards across Lagos.


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E-Financial

CBN Proposes 30-Member Mediation Panel for Loan Disputes

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Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released an exposure draft proposing the establishment of a 30-member Mediation and Dispute Resolution Panel (MDRP) aimed at strengthening consumer protection and boosting confidence in Nigeria’s financial system.

CBN Proposes 30-Member Mediation Panel for Loan Disputes

Pic credit….aequitasjuris.com

According to a circular signed by Paul Oluikpe, acting director of the Development Finance Advisory Department of the CBN, the establishment of the MDRP, is in furtherance of efforts to strengthen the financial ecosystem, ensure compliance with extant legislation, and enhance the efficiency of financial intermediation.

The draft guidelines and modalities for the operation of the MDRP are in line with the Secured Transactions in Movable Assets (STMA) Act, 2017, which established a MDRP as the first recourse for mediation and settlement over any civil dispute which may arise between the creditor and the grantor in the course of implementing the Act.

The act also mandates the Governor of the Bank to issue guidelines that will set out the modalities and regulate the Panel’s functioning, among others. The circular further noted that the “MDRP is intended to provide a specialised, cost-effective platform for resolving disputes arising from creation, perfection and enforcement of security interests in movable assets.

“The key objective of the MDRP guidelines is to establish a clear and standardised procedure for managing STMA-related disputes, while ensuring transparency, fairness and efficiency to bolster confidence in the secured transactions in movable assets system.”

According to the draft guideline, the CBN will “appoint 30 persons from whom panels shall be constituted, with each panel comprising 3 members.

The members shall serve on a rotational basis for an initial term of four years.

“Upon satisfactory performance, determined through an evaluation by the CBN, members may be reappointed for an additional term of four years. The tenure of members shall not exceed two terms of four years each, which need not be consecutive.

“Members shall be professionals with a minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in any of law, banking, finance, mediation, arbitration, alternative dispute resolution, or financial regulation. Members shall be persons of proven integrity, professional competence and sound judgement.”


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E-Business

CAC Urges Users to Secure Accounts after Cyberattack Scare

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Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has raised  alarm over a cybersecurity incident involving unauthorised access to parts of its information systems, urging users to update their login credentials as a precaution.

CAC Urges Users to Secure Accounts after Cyberattack Scare

In a public notice yesterday, CAC, informed stakeholders that the Commission is currently reviewing the breach and assessing its potential impact.

According to the Commission, response protocols have been activated, with containment measures already in place to safeguard affected systems.

The CAC stated that it is working closely with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and other relevant government agencies and partners to determine the scope of the incident and prevent further compromise.

“Appropriate containment measures have been implemented, and additional safeguards are in place,” the Commission stated, while advising users to monitor activities on the CAC portal and remain cautious of unsolicited communications that may arise from the breach.

Reports online claim that as many as 25 million documents may have been exfiltrated from the Commission’s infrastructure.

The claims, attributed to a cybercrime-tracking account, have not been independently verified, and the CAC has not confirmed the figures or identified any perpetrators.

The development has raised fresh concerns over the security of Nigeria’s corporate registry, particularly given the Commission’s increasing reliance on digital systems.

In February 2026, the CAC disclosed that it processes up to 10,000 business registration requests daily, following the deployment of artificial intelligence across its service delivery platforms.

It also handles an average of 5,000 customer enquiries each day via emails and call centres.

Despite the breach, the Commission reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining the integrity and security of its systems, assuring stakeholders that updates will be provided as investigations progress.

 


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