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Debts Mount as Telcos Shun Clearing Houses

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Telecommunications operators in the country have reverted to the old system of passing traffic directly without going through clearing houses, a development that has led to the current high incidences of interconnection indebtedness, Nigeria CommunicationWeek has learnt.

At the moment over 90 percent of traffic exchanged by operators in the industry are routed among operators directly without the use of any clearing house.

And without the use of a clearing house, operators are always at loggerheads over the volume of traffic routed among them.

Clearing Houses including Integrated Wireless Technologies Nigeria Ltd, Medallion, Interconnect Clearinghouse, were established in 2005 to address problems of indebtedness arising from improper documentation of traffic routed among operators.

When they began operation and most operators connected to them the problem of indebtedness was reduce  as they were keeping record of traffic routed to different operators thereby making bill reconciliation easier.

Nigeria CommunicationsWeek investigations revealed some operators have opted out of the clearing house system preferring to deal directly with each other on individual basis.

This has however come with some problems including rising debts as well as disputes over the volume of traffic routed among them.

Uche Onwudiwe, chief operating officer, Interconnect Clearinghouse Nigeria, one of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) licensed clearing house, said that the reappearance of high indebtedness in the telecom sector in spite of establishment of Clearing Houses is as a result of decision of most operators to route their traffic among themselves.

Onwudiwe, said that such operators are claiming that making use of clearing house in routing their traffic is additional cost compared to direct routing of traffic.

A clearinghouse is a company or association that transfers billing records and/or performs financial clearing functions between carriers that allow their customers to use each other’s networks.

The clearinghouse receives, validates and accounts for telephone bills for several telephone service providers.

Clearinghouses are particularly important for international billing because they convert different data record formats that may be used by some service providers and convert for the currency exchange rate.

Clearinghouses provide a variety of services, including processing proprietary records (e.g. switch records) into formats understandable by the member carriers’ billing systems, validating charges from carriers with intersystem agreements, and extracting unauthorized or un-billable billing records.


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Telecom

SHELT Named in Prestigious 2025 MSSP 250 List for Cybersecurity Excellence

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SHELT, a leading cybersecurity-as-a-service provider, has earned inclusion in the 2025 MSSP 250, the annual ranking of the world’s top 250 Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) by MSSP Alert, a CyberRisk Alliance publication.

SHELT Named in Prestigious 2025 MSSP 250 List for Cybersecurity Excellence

SHELT

The list evaluates firms on business performance, service breadth, and industry impact, spotlighting those excelling in growth, operational excellence, and advanced managed security amid rising cyber threats. Selection criteria include annual recurring revenue, profitability, workforce expansion, business growth, and the depth of managed security offerings.

SHELT’s recognition underscores its investments in scalable security operations, threat intelligence, and tailored managed services across multiple regions, enabling clients to navigate complex risk landscapes effectively.

“Being recognised in the MSSP 250 is a meaningful milestone for our team,” stated Youssef Abillama, CEO of SHELT. “It validates our focus on building practical, resilient security services that help organisations manage risk and respond effectively to today’s evolving cyber threats.”

The company hailed the honour as testament to its teams’ dedication and expertise worldwide, reaffirming commitment to enhancing capabilities and delivering trusted cybersecurity solutions.


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Meta Names Ex-Trump Adviser Dina Powell McCormick as President

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Meta Platforms, owner of Facebook, has appointed Dina Powell McCormick, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, as its new president and vice chairman, bolstering its leadership amid aggressive AI and infrastructure expansion.

Meta names ex-Trump adviser Dina Powell McCormick as president

Dina Powell McCormick

The announcement, made on Monday, positions Powell McCormick – who recently stepped down from Meta’s board after eight months – to guide overall strategy, including multi-billion-dollar investments in data centres and global partnerships.

A Goldman Sachs veteran with 16 years in senior roles and prior stints as deputy national security adviser under Trump and in the Bush administration, she brings deep finance and international ties to the role.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg hailed her as “uniquely qualified” for the company’s next growth phase, while President Trump praised the move on Truth Social as a “fantastic choice”.

The hire signals Meta’s efforts to strengthen White House relations, following recent dinners with Trump and U.S. investment pledges worth hundreds of billions


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X Suspends Twitter Account for Rules Violation

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X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has suspended the @Twitter account, replacing its profile with a standard notice citing violation of platform rules.

X Suspends Twitter Account for Rules Violation

Musk

The action, which occurred on Sunday, January 11, left users encountering the handle greeted by a bold “Account Suspended” message on a black screen, with no details provided on the specific rules broken or the duration of the suspension.

The development has sparked widespread confusion and nostalgia among users, given that Elon Musk rebranded Twitter to X in July 2023, approximately six months after acquiring the platform for $44 billion in late 2022.

The @Twitter handle had remained dormant since before Musk’s takeover, serving as a legacy remnant of the platform’s original branding, and its suspension appears to mark the final erasure of the Twitter name amid X’s ongoing efforts to combat spam, impersonation, and rule violations.

X’s official statement on the suspended page simply reads: “X suspends accounts that violate our rules,” without offering an appeal process or further explanation, unlike standard user suspensions.

Public reactions on social media ranged from humorous laments of “RIP Twitter” to speculation that the move resulted from automated moderation or a deliberate cleanup of legacy trademarks.

xAI’s Grok AI described it as a purposeful retirement of outdated elements rather than a genuine infraction, while neither Elon Musk nor X spokespeople issued any comment as of Monday morning.

This incident underscores the evolving identity of the platform under Musk’s ownership, which also saw a domain shift to x.com in 2024, further distancing it from its Twitter roots.

Industry observers note that while the suspension aligns with X’s stricter enforcement policies, the lack of transparency has fueled debates on consistency in applying rules to high-profile legacy accounts.


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