Telecom
Etisalat Drags MTN, NCC to Court over Market Share

Etisalat, Telecommunication Company, has reportedly dragged the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos State over claims that the South African telecommunication company, MTN, has been given market advantage over it.
The Tribune reported that at Tuesday’s proceedings, Aanu Ogunro, counsel for Etisalat, appeared before Justice Mohammed Idris with an application seeking the leave of the court for the suit to be heard during the court’s ongoing annual vacation.
Joined as a co-respondent with NCC in the suit is MTN.
Ogunro, while urging the judge to hear the suit, said it was urgent, claiming that if the decision of the NCC in favour of MTN was not reversed, it posed a threat to the business survival of Etisalat.
“My lord, we have a motion ex-parte for leave to ask for the judicial review of the decision of the first respondent.
“The urgency in this matter is that the first respondent has made certain decisions that, if not urgently addressed, will affect the business of the applicant and it is capable of eroding the capital and the business of the applicant within a very short time,” Ogunro said.
According to the Tribune, after hearing the lawyer, the judge granted the application to hear the suit during vacation and thereafter adjourned till August 3 to take the substantive application.
Etisalat, in the main suit, is seeking a review of a decision said to be recently taken by NCC allowing 30 per cent differential between MTN’s off-net and on-net retail mobile voice tariffs.
According to Etisalat, with the said 30 per cent differential between its off-net and on-net retail mobile voice tariffs, MTN had been able to create what is called a ‘calling club,’ an example of which is its ‘Family and Friends’ promo.
Etisalat is contending that MTN’s ‘Family and Friends’ promo, which offers a call rate of 11 kobo per second to eight MTN subscribers and two non-MTN subscribers, is posing a threat to its business survival.
It explained that the promo, which it claimed was launched in violation of NCC’s regulation, had aided MTN to leverage on its size to restrict outgoing traffic to smaller operators by pricing on-net tariffs lower so as to make off-net calls unattractive.”
Etisalat, however, claimed that this 30 per cent differential in on-net and off-net retail mobile voice tariffs granted MTN by NCC was a breach of NCC’s regulation tagged the Determination of Dominance in Selected Communications Markets in Nigeria.
The DDSCMN, Etisalat said, was issued by NCC on April 25, 2013, following a study it conducted in 2012.
According to Etisalat, NCC had, following its 2012 study, discovered that MTN was the dominant operator in the retail mobile voice market segment of the telecommunication industry in Nigeria and that it maintained a wide differential of up to 300 per cent between its on-net and off-net retail voice tariff, which was not favourable to its competitors.
Following this discovery, the plaintiff said NCC directed that MTN should not operate with any differential between its on-net and off-net tarriffs because such would substantially reduce the competitive capacity of other telecommunication service providers in the country.
Etisalat, however, said contrary to this earlier directive by NCC, MTN embarked on its ‘Family and Friends’ promo, which encouraged the creation of a calling club to the business detriment of the competitors.
Etisalat explained that when it realised that MTN had launched its promo, it wrote several letters, including one dated February 28, 2015, to NCC to complain but NCC refused and failed to compel MTN to immediately withdraw the aforesaid ‘Family an Friends’ tariff option.
It, however, said that NCC later wrote a letter dated April 14, 2015 to the plaintiff, disclosing that it had given MTN 30 per cent differential in on-net and off-net tariffs.
But Etisalat is contending that such leverage given by NCC to MTN would not allow the healthy competition within the telecommunications industry in Nigeria to be sustained.
It is therefore seeking a judicial review of the said decision by the NCC.
Telecom
Flutterwave Announces Massive Staff Shake-Up, Promotes Over 100 Employees

Flutterwave has announced a company-wide employee support package that includes promotions for about 25 per cent of its global workforce, a one-off economic relief payment and enhanced support measures for employees in Nigeria.

The fintech company said more than 100 employees across its global operations had been promoted as part of efforts to reward performance and strengthen employee welfare.
In addition, all staff worldwide will receive a one-time economic relief payment, while employees in Nigeria will benefit from additional tax support and cost-of-living adjustments following recent regulatory changes affecting take-home pay.
The company said the initiative was introduced in response to rising living costs across key markets, particularly in Nigeria, where inflation and increased transportation expenses have placed pressure on household incomes.
Speaking on the development, Olugbenga Agboola, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Flutterwave, described employees as the driving force behind the company’s growth and innovation.
“I often say our people are our secret sauce. They are the ultimate engine behind everything we build, giving us the capacity to create solutions that power businesses, unlock opportunities and move money seamlessly across Africa and beyond,” he said.
According to the company, the support measures form part of its broader strategy to improve staff welfare, retain talent and create an environment where employees can focus on their work without undue financial pressure.
Also speaking, Annette Akpolo said the initiative reflects a balance between rewarding individual performance and addressing the collective needs of employees.
“Our goal has always been to build an environment where our people can focus on doing their best work, rather than being weighed down by economic anxiety.
“Pairing merit-based individual growth with supporting the collective needs of the whole team are both essential parts of how we build a company culture where people genuinely want to stay and grow over the long term,” she said.
Founded in 2016, Flutterwave is marking its 10th anniversary in 2026.
The company disclosed that it has processed more than one billion transactions and facilitated over 40 billion dollars in total payment value globally since inception.
Flutterwave also reported strong growth across its payment channels, including a 289 per cent increase in wallet-based collections by transaction volume and a 184 per cent rise in bank transfer value over the past year.
The company attributed the growth to increasing adoption of local payment methods across its operating markets.
Industry observers note that the latest employee support package comes amid increasing competition for skilled talent in Nigeria’s fintech sector, where firms are adjusting compensation and benefits to retain workers in the face of rising living costs.
Agboola said future growth opportunities within the company would continue to be based on performance, leadership and meaningful contributions to its mission.
“At Flutterwave, growth is earned through meaningful contributions to the business and to the mission we are building together.
“As we continue to grow, the people who will shape our future are those who consistently step up, solve hard problems, support others and move the company forward,” he said.
Telecom
NCC Retains Rudman as Chair of Newly Inaugurated IPv6 Council Board, Urges Advancement of Nigeria’s Digital Migration

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has officially inaugurated the new board of the Nigerian Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) Council in Ikeja, Lagos. Mr. Muhammed Rudman, Chief Executive Officer of the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), will continue to serve as Chairman.

This inauguration marks a significant milestone for Nigeria’s telecommunications sector, as global demand for IPv4 now exceeds the available IPv4 address space.
Following the event, Rudman acknowledged the contributions of former board members, including Olusola Teniola (former President, ATCON), Funke Opeke (Founder, MainOne), Mary Uduma (former President, NiRA), and Lanre Ajayi (past President, ATCON), emphasizing that their involvement was instrumental in establishing the nation’s foundational IPv6 migration efforts.
Rudman noted that membership in the IPv6 Council is institution-based. The reconstituted board includes Mr. Muhammed Rudman as Chairman and a representative from the NCC as Co-Chairman. Institutional representatives from NITDA, ATCON, NIRA, ALTON, ISPON, and NgREN serve as board members, with Dr. Chris Uwaje and Prof. Latif Ladid acting as Advisers. This group is responsible for leading the nationwide migration from IPv4 to IPv6.
“The transition to IPv6 is a strategic national priority. It is essential for enabling Nigeria’s digital transformation, economic growth, and global competitiveness. The council’s strategy identifies IPv6 as a primary catalyst for national development, focusing on three pillars: supporting emerging technologies such as 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT), promoting economic diversification, and providing enhanced security and performance compared to legacy solutions such as Network Address Translation (NAT),” Rudman stated.
To achieve these objectives, the council’s action plan is structured around two primary initiatives: awareness-raising and capacity-building. The board will prioritize promoting national awareness of IPv6 through targeted events and workshops, while also providing IPv6 training to network engineers across various operators, including ISPs, telecommunications companies, educational institutions, and financial organizations. These efforts are expected to facilitate the acquisition and deployment of IPv6 throughout Nigerian networks.
The council will develop and oversee the national IPv6 strategy, monitor adoption across sectors, and report regularly to the Federal Government. Additionally, the council will identify technical challenges, strengthen local engineering capacity, and recommend regulatory measures to encourage ISPs, telecommunications operators, academic institutions, and enterprises to upgrade.
With the Nigeria IPv6 Council now operational, local enterprises and network providers are required to upgrade their systems to sustain the nation’s position in the global digital landscape.
Telecom
MTN, ALTON, Upperlink, NiRA back 2026 Nigeria DigitalSENSE forum, awards

Leading telecommunications, technology, and internet governance stakeholders have thrown their weight behind the 16th milestone edition of the annual Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum (NDSF) on Internet Governance for Development (IG4D), scheduled to hold on Thursday, June 11, 2026, at the Welcome Centre Hotels, Ikeja-Lagos.

The high-profile convergence, organized by pioneer tech-media firm ITREALMS Media and hosted by DigitalSENSE Africa (DSA); an ICANN-certified At-Large Structure, will center its discourse on the national theme: “Sustaining WSIS Vision with Multistakeholder Synergy in Nigeria.”
Confirming their corporate backing and institutional participation are industry giants including ICT infrastructure leader MTN Nigeria; the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON); premier software and DNS infrastructure firm Upperlink Limited; and the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA).
Speaking on the preparations, the Lead Convener of NDSF and Group Executive Editor of ITREALMS Media Group, Ogbuefi Remmy Nweke, KSM, stated that the 2026 forum marks a crucial trajectory in examining how local multi-stakeholder synergy can sustain the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) frameworks to accelerate Nigeria’s digital public infrastructure (DPI) and domain economy.
“We are delighted to have the robust support of critical ecosystem drivers like MTN, ALTON, Upperlink, and NiRA. Their participation underscores the vital importance of multi-stakeholder dialogue in addressing contemporary policy, infrastructure growth, digital rights, and the transition into more advanced, secure digital spaces,” Nweke said.
A major highlight of this year’s forum will be that it will hold under the distinguished chairmanship of industry veteran, Dr. Olusola Teniola (hon), as approved by the Board of Directorate and the Central Committee. Under his chairmanship, the forum will also feature the presentation of the prestigious DigitalSENSE Africa 2026 awards to distinguished players in the ecosystem and corporate technology landscape across the continent.
The forum’s comprehensive agenda will feature high-level plenaries and technical sessions led by seasoned industry experts. Key areas of discourse will cut across the role of regulatory organs in the digital economy, bridging innovation gaps, leveraging Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for SME growth, digital rights, and data protection.
The organizers have invited additional internet stakeholders, including civil society organizations (CSOs), academia, young innovators, women in tech, and industry professionals, to maximize the networking and advocacy windows presented by this 16th edition.
With corporate sponsorship tiers spanning Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze partnerships now actively filling up, corporate brand materials and production collaterals are expected to reach the NDSF secretariat on or before Thursday, June 4, 2026, to guarantee technical alignment.
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