Telecom
Stakeholders Seek Use of Wireless to Achieve Universal Access
Information and Communications Technology stakeholders have advocated for the use of wireless technology to connect the unconnected in achieving universal access.
They spoke at the fourth edition of the annual Stakeholders Forum of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in conjunction with IT& Telecom Digest, an ICT magazine held in Lagos.
Engr. Ernest Ndukwe, executive vice chairman and chief executive officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), who was represented by Funlola Akiode, NCC’s head of economic analysis and corporate financing; said that the theme of the forum which was ‘Wireless Technology as a Means to Achieving Universal Access,’ rightly captures the way the country should be going at a time like this especially in an attempt to capture the rural underserved people.
The NCC boss further reiterated the activities of the Commission in the last two years as a deliberate attempt at promoting wireless connectivity to rural areas of the country.
“In the past two years the NCC has declared each year as the year of Broadband. What the Commission has done within this period is to encourage the roll out of broadband facilities in the country so as to encourage people, whether in the cities or in the rural areas to develop broadband attitude and learn t deploy the technology for daily operations,” he said.
This he said has been supported by the deliberate policy of encouraging new technologies that will enhance the nation’s communications backbone. According to him, through the various licensing regimes at the NCC, we have made deliberate efforts to encourage new technologies including the various genres of wireless by way of building a strong communications backbone which we currently missed in fixed network. If properly deployed, all the operators including, Fixed Wireless, GSM, Gateway, and other licensees including the recently licensed 2.3GHz, will build the kind of backbone that can carry the needed traffic for the country. Such operations will feature various technologies, including: 2.3G, 3G, 3.5G, CDMA 2001X, EVDO, WiFi, WiMAX, UMTS, EDGE, and other next generation networks, NGN.
Ndukwe added that the foundation for today’s success in the telecommunications sector of the country was laid in 2001 through the widely acclaimed Mobile auction, “which initially made provisions for four operators to hit the market with products initially was a major step forward. Apart from the money raked into the country at the time, at $285 million per license, growth ever since has demonstrated that the NCC took the right decision.”
As a result, today, Nigeria has 67 million lines as at February this year according to the NCC boss, he said this has been made possible through the combination of various technologies – GSM technology, satellite and fixed technology, among others.
Speaking as an integral part of what has become known as the Nigerian telecommunications revolution, Bekele Tadesse, sales director of Harris Stratex for Nigeria and West Africa, described the NCC as a most innovative and sensitive regulator whose policies have further strengthened the country’s telecom development.
He described the transparent and open liberal processes of the NCC as worthy of commendation.
Bekele took time out to inform the gathering of the various new products and services that Harris Stratex has in store to facilitate easy and efficient roll-out for operators in the various market segments of the telecoms industry in Nigeria and the West African sub-region.
Engr. Ajayi, president, Nigeria Internet Group, corroborate Engr Ndukwe’s optimism when he announced that the country was most certainly going to experience a Broadband revolution by December 2010 at a time when he said the Main One Cable, a first ever private undersea cable initiative by a Nigerian company, would have become operational. The NIG boss said this cable would reduce the cost of internet by about 90 per cent or more and this he said was bound to reduce the overt dependence on the SAT-3 cable that has enjoyed a monopoly of the sector for a long time.
In a remark, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, president, The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (Atcon) who was the chairman of the occasion said that the power and advantage that Broadband would bring into the hands of Nigerian people especially the rural underserved population which is more than 70 per cent of the country’s population, is enormous and would be difficult to be quantified in mere currency value.
He agreed with Engr. Ajayi that the new cable systems due for launch in the country would cause a massive change in attitude of the way and manner the people of the country communicate, stating that the capacity for Broadband would be further increased with the likely launch of the Glo-1 Cable due for launch by the second national operator, Globacom sometime this year.
In his modest assessment of the massive growth in the nation’s telecom industry, Romain Weryk, Commercial Attache in the French Embassy wondered why many French companies are not involved in the growth and gains of the Nigerian telecommunications segment of the economy. He urged French telecom companies to take the advantage in the astronomic growth in the country’s telecoms sector and launch into the largest market in Africa.
Reacting to the revocation of the 2.3GHz license Dr. Ekuwem described it as a mere rumour saying that until it is appropriately communicated to him, he would not take it as a fact. He however said that if it turns out to be the truth, then there would be a need for a thorough investigation of what went wrong.
The annual NCC-IT& Telecom Digest Stakeholders Forum is a programme designed to bringing together the regulator of the industry and the various industry stakeholders to discuss common issues and matters that concern the industry and seek solutions on how best to move forward in the best interest of Nigerians.
Telecom
Truecaller Targets Global Market with Powerful New Business Chat Push

Truecaller, the leading global communications platform, today announced the expansion of its Business Chat platform, making it accessible to global channel partners and enterprise solution providers. By “opening up” market access to its platform, Truecaller is empowering partners to transition their enterprise clients from legacy, low-trust SMS to a verified, smart, media-rich, and conversational communication experience.

Truecaller
Through this partner-led expansion, Truecaller empowers businesses to reclaim customer attention and establish immediate trust and credibility.
“The definition of success for modern enterprises has fundamentally evolved. It’s no longer just about delivery – it’s about earning attention, establishing credibility, and driving meaningful conversion,” said Priyam Bose, Global Head, GTM at Truecaller.
“By opening up market access to our global partners, we’ve created a powerful gateway for brands to engage with over 500 million active users where they already interact daily through communication that is contextual, trusted, free from clutter, and designed to initiate actions. For existing customers, the outreach opportunity extends to an additional high-impact channel, strengthening the overall customer experience journey.”
Truecaller Business Chat enables a clutter-free, high-trust conversational experience between businesses and consumers. The Business Chat platform equips partners with actionable insights, including real-time data and rich engagement metrics. This facilitates a more sophisticated, data-driven communication strategy that adapts at every stage of the customer journey.
Partners, including Gupshup and OneXtel, are already live in India along with Globe Teleservices, Cloudcom, and Sling Africa in other global markets, rapidly scaling the product in their respective regions. Global partners can now leverage Truecaller’s massive footprint to offer their clients a trustworthy engagement channel in an increasingly crowded digital world.
Telecom
Apply Now: MTN Nigeria Opens 2026 Media Innovation Programme

MTN Nigeria has opened applications for the fifth edition of its Media Innovation Programme (MIP), expanding the cohort to 25 fellows from 20 in previous years to mark the company’s 25th anniversary and bolster the media sector.

MTN Nigeria
The initiative highlights MTN Nigeria’s 25-year milestone in connecting Nigerians, paralleling investment in storytellers who amplify these connections across society and foster a vibrant media industry amid digital evolution.
“The Media Innovation Programme reflects our commitment to supporting the growth and evolution of the media industry by providing access to knowledge, exposure, and meaningful engagement with the realities shaping it,” said Tobe Okigbo, Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer at MTN Nigeria.
“The expansion to 25 fellows this year is a deliberate reflection of our 25-year milestone, and a reminder that as the media industry continues to evolve, there is a continued need to invest in the people and ideas that will shape its future.”
Applications close April 22, 2026; aspiring fellows can apply at mtnmip.smc.edu.ng.
Telecom
Meta Unveils Muse Spark: MSL’s Groundbreaking People-First AI Model

Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) unveiled Muse Spark Tuesday, its first large language model in a new Muse series, designed from scratch to deliver “personal superintelligence”—an AI assistant tailored to users’ real-world needs like complex reasoning in science, math and health.

Meta AI
A New Model: Muse Spark
Over the last nine months, Meta Superintelligence Labs rebuilt our AI stack from the ground up, moving faster than any development cycle we have run before. Muse Spark is the first model in our new Muse series — a deliberate and scientific approach to model scaling where each generation validates and builds on the last before we go bigger. This initial model is small and fast by design, yet capable enough to reason through complex questions in science, math, and health. It is a powerful foundation, and the next generation is already in development. Muse Spark now powers the Meta AI assistant in the Meta AI app and meta.ai, built to support complex reasoning and multimodal tasks.
What’s Changed with Meta AI
The Meta AI app and meta.ai are getting an upgrade today, along with a new look. Whether you need a quick answer or help with complex problems that need strong reasoning, Meta AI now handles both. You can switch between modes depending on the task, and Meta AI can launch multiple subagents in parallel to tackle your question. Like planning a family trip to Florida where one agent drafts the itinerary, another compares Orlando vs. the Keys, and a third finds kid-friendly activities — all at the same time, giving you a better answer, faster.
Ask Meta AI: It Understands
The real world moves fast, and most of it does not fit into a text box. That is why we built strong multimodal perception into Muse Spark, so Meta AI can see and understand what you are looking at, not just read what you type. Snap a photo of an airport snack shelf and Meta AI can identify and rank the snacks with the most protein — no label-squinting required. Scan a product and ask how it compares to alternatives. It is the difference between an AI that waits for you to explain the world and one that can simply look at the world with you. And when Meta AI powered by Muse Spark comes to our AI glasses, the assistant will be able to better see and understand the world around you.
Multimodal perception is especially valuable for health. With Muse Spark, Meta AI is now able to help you navigate health questions with more detailed responses, including some questions involving images and charts. Health is one of the top reasons people turn to AI, so we worked with a team of physicians to develop the model’s ability to provide helpful information on common health questions and concerns.
Muse Spark excels at visual coding, letting you create custom websites and mini-games straight from a prompt. Ask Meta AI to build a dashboard for planning a big surprise party, spin up a retro arcade game to chase a high score, or launch a whimsical flight simulator — and share any of them with friends.
Ask Meta AI: It’s Plugged Into What You Care About
Meta AI can now help you discover what to wear, how to style a room, or what to buy for someone you know. Shopping mode draws from the styling inspiration and brand storytelling already happening across our apps, surfacing ideas from the creators and communities people already follow.
And when you are looking up a place to go or a topic that is trending, Meta AI surfaces rich and relevant context right alongside the conversation. Tap into a location and see public posts from locals who know the area. Ask what people are buzzing about and get the full picture, pulled from content and community posts. It is context from your people, right where you need it.
Looking Ahead
The Meta AI app and meta.ai will have the upgraded experience with Instant and Thinking modes everywhere they are available today. The new Meta AI features are starting to roll out in the US on both. In the coming weeks, we will bring these new modes and capabilities to more countries and to the places where people use Meta AI, including Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and our AI glasses — where these perception capabilities become even more powerful. We are also opening access to the underlying technology. It will be available in private preview via API to select partners, and we hope to open-source future versions of the model.
This is only the start. As we expand these features, expect richer, more visual results, with Reels, photos, and posts woven directly into your answers, with credit back to the content creators. And as our models improve, we’ll continue to build safeguards for things like safety and privacy, starting with the strengthened risk framework and other protections we’re sharing today.
The future of Meta AI is rooted in the relationships and context already at the center of your life. We are building toward personal superintelligence — an AI that does not just answer your questions but truly understands your world because it is built on it.
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