As part of efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s digital infrastructure and accelerate the country’s push towards a $1 trillion digital economy, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has unveiled a new Spectrum Roadmap for 2026–2030, alongside draft guidelines for opening the lower 6GHz and 60GHz bands.

Stakeholders in the telecommunications sector on Monday converged in Abuja for the Consultative Forum on the Spectrum Roadmap 2026–2030 and the Guidelines for Opening the Lower 6GHz and 60GHz Bands, where the Commission presented the proposed policy frameworks and sought industry input.

Speaking at the Forum, the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) and Chief Executive Officer of the NCC, Dr Aminu Maida, described spectrum as an invisible but indispensable national resource that powers mobile communications, broadband networks, satellite services, financial platforms and smart technologies across the country.

Represented by the Head of Spectrum Administration, Engr Atiku Lawal, the EVC said rising demand driven by data-intensive applications, cloud services, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things has made forward-looking spectrum planning inevitable.

“The Spectrum Roadmap 2026–2030 is about creating a transparent, predictable and enabling regulatory environment that supports investment, encourages innovation, expands access and improves service quality for all Nigerians,” Maida said.

He explained that the roadmap is designed to give industry players confidence to invest and the flexibility to innovate, while ensuring that Nigeria’s digital growth remains inclusive, sustainable and aligned with national development priorities.

On the draft guidelines, Maida said the proposed opening of the lower 6GHz band for Wi-Fi 6 and the 60GHz licence-exempt band for multi-gigabit wireless systems marks a bold step towards expanding spectrum available for unlicensed use.

“These bands will significantly expand the spectrum available for high-speed, affordable and reliable connectivity, enabling faster Wi-Fi and innovative services across homes, schools, businesses, healthcare facilities and public spaces,” he noted.

The EVC added that with Wi-Fi carrying a large share of global internet traffic, opening the new bands would help Nigeria prepare for future data demands, not only on mobile networks but also across campuses, enterprises and public infrastructure.

Linking the initiative to national policy, he said the roadmap and guidelines support the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ambition of building a $1 trillion digital economy by 2030.

In a keynote address delivered by the Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Engr Abraham Oshadami, he said the engagement reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to ensuring that spectrum resources benefit every community.

Represented by the Head of Fixed Networks and Converged Services at the NCC, Engr Gidado Maigana, Oshadami described spectrum as the backbone of Nigeria’s digital economy and a scarce national asset that must be managed with transparency, prudence and collaboration.

“The way we plan, assign and regulate spectrum will determine our ability to achieve national targets, stimulate innovation and strengthen global competitiveness,” Oshadami stated.

While acknowledging progress in mobile broadband penetration, 5G deployment and quality of service, he warned that rising data demand from fixed wireless access, real-time applications and emerging technologies requires deliberate and forward-looking planning.

He said the Spectrum Roadmap 2026–2030 provides clarity, predictability and transparency, while aligning spectrum management with national priorities such as bridging the digital divide, enhancing quality of experience, promoting innovation and encouraging market-driven investment.

On the opening of the lower 6GHz and 60GHz bands, Oshadami said the move would help ease congestion on existing Wi-Fi bands, with the lower 6GHz offering wider channels and higher data rates, and the 60GHz band enabling multi-gigabit wireless connectivity for advanced use cases.

According to him, the draft guidelines clearly outline deployment scenarios, power limits, interference mitigation measures and compliance frameworks to ensure efficient and safe use of the bands.

Both speakers stressed that the success of the proposed frameworks would depend on sustained collaboration with industry stakeholders, noting that feedback from the consultative process would shape the final policies.

“The decisions we make today will shape Nigeria’s digital trajectory for years to come,” Oshadami remarked.

Sophos, a global leader of innovative security solutions for defeating cyberattacks, today announced Sophos Workspace Protection, expanding its portfolio to help organizations secure hybrid work and govern the use of emerging technologies, including AI.

Sophos

Built around the Sophos Protected Browser, powered by Island, the solution enables organizations to protect applications, data, users, and guests wherever work takes place, while providing a unified approach to securing the modern workspace.

Rethinking Security for Hybrid Work

Traditional approaches to securing hybrid work, including deploying multiple cloud-delivered SASE and SSE solutions, often require significant infrastructure, specialized expertise, and ongoing operational overhead to deploy and manage.

These models can increase cost and complexity while still leaving gaps in visibility and control where modern work now happens.

Sophos Workspace Protection takes a different approach by securing the workspace directly, eliminating the need to backhaul traffic through centralized infrastructure.

This reduces the operational burden and cost while enabling protections that follow users, applications, their internet usage, and their data wherever they work, providing organizations at all stages of security maturity with a simpler way to secure hybrid work without added complexity.

At the core of Sophos Workspace Protection is the Sophos Protected Browser, powered by Island and purpose-built to seamlessly integrate with the Sophos Central platform.

With 85% of the modern workday now taking place in a web browser, the Sophos Protected Browser was developed to address security needs where modern work happens.

It provides organizations with visibility and control at the workspace level, helping them protect sensitive data, manage application access, and enforce policy directly within the browser.

By embedding security controls into a familiar user experience, Sophos Workspace Protection enables organizations to secure work across corporate and remote environments without disrupting productivity.

“Security teams are increasingly impacted by complexity, especially as hybrid work, SaaS adoption, and AI tools continue to expand the workspace,” said Mike Jude, Research Director at IDC. “Sophos Workspace Protection reflects a pragmatic shift in the market, delivering core SASE and SSE outcomes through an integrated, endpoint‑ and browser‑centric approach that simplifies deployment, reduces operational overhead, and helps organizations govern application and AI use without adding another layer of infrastructure.”

Governing Shadow IT and Shadow AI

As emerging technologies, including generative AI, become part of everyday workflows, organizations are increasingly challenged to understand how these tools are being used and what data is being shared through them. Recent research shows that more than half of employees worldwide now use AI tools at work, often before formal policies or controls are established, increasing risks associated with Shadow IT and Shadow AI.

By providing visibility and control at the workspace level, Sophos Workspace Protection helps organizations assess risk, enforce policy, and govern the safe use of emerging technologies across the hybrid workforce.

What’s Included in Sophos Workspace Protection

Sophos Workspace Protection is delivered as a flexible set of integrated components that organizations can deploy together or individually based on their security and operational requirements. The following components make up the Workspace Protection suite:

·       Sophos Protected Browser: a Chromium-based secure enterprise browser, powered by Island, that provides controls over application usage, local data handling, and web filtering. It also integrates Sophos ZTNA for access to private web applications and supports SSH and RDP access for remote administration.

·       Sophos ZTNA: a Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) component that provides secure, posture-based access to private applications by allowing only authorized users and compliant devices to connect while keeping applications hidden from the internet.

·       Sophos DNS Protection: a cloud-delivered DNS security service that organizations can deploy to individual Windows endpoints as part of Workspace Protection. It provides an additional layer of web and phishing protection by blocking malicious or unwanted domains.

·       Email Monitoring System: an email security add-on deployed alongside Google or Microsoft email services that monitors email traffic and provides additional detection of unwanted or malicious messages, including phishing.

Together, these components enable several key benefits and use cases for organizations securing modern, hybrid work environments.

 “Sophos has long protected remote and hybrid workers with industry-leading endpoint and network security, but today’s work environments demand stronger governance of apps and data,” said Joe Levy, CEO of Sophos. “Many SASE and SSE solutions add complexity and operational overhead while still leaving gaps in visibility and control. By combining Island’s enterprise browser technology with Sophos’ security capabilities and the Sophos Central platform, we are helping organizations govern AI use, protect critical data, and secure hybrid workforces with a solution that is easier to deploy and manage.”

“Hybrid work shouldn’t mean tradeoffs between security and productivity,” said Mike Fey, co-founder and CEO of Island. “Island protects data, secures application access, and helps organizations safely embrace AI, all through the browser people already use. Integrating with the Sophos Central platform lets customers do that with less complexity and more confidence.”    

Key Benefits for Organizations

Sophos Workspace Protection helps organizations secure distributed and hybrid workers, govern the use of emerging tools and services, including AI, and support fast, flexible access for contractors and partners. The solution also strengthens defenses against phishing, browser-based threats, and other attacks that target users in the modern workspace.

Lebara Nigeria has launched the Agent Registration Portal (ARP), a new digital onboarding platform designed to accelerate the expansion of its retail and point-of-sale (POS) network nationwide.

Through the Agent Registration Portal, Lebara aims to create awareness, build trust and credibility within the retail channel, create opportunities for Nigerians to register and become Lebara partners, and position the brand as a modern, digitally driven, and opportunity – focused telecom operator.

With the introduction of the Agent Registration Portal, alongside its earlier customer-focused digital tools, Lebara Nigeria is designed to empower SMEs, independent distributors, SIM sellers, and retailers nationwide by removing traditional barriers to entry and enabling compliant, digital-first onboarding at scale.

Also, positioning  itself as a digitally driven telecom entrant, focused on speed, compliance, and nationwide reach as it prepares for full-scale operations across the country.

The rollout comes as part of a national onboarding campaign running from January to March, 2026, targeting both low-scale retail agents and high-scale distributors.

Through the portal, Lebara aims to rapidly grow its digital and physical presence across Nigeria while ensuring all partners meet required compliance and verification standards

The Agent Registration Portal is accessible via the Lebara Nigeria website and allows prospective agents and distributors to complete the entire onboarding process online.

Once approved, partner locations are activated as Lebara POS outlets, trained and authorized to sell Lebara starter packs, data bundles, vouchers and other Lebara Nigeria products and services.

The launch builds on Lebara Nigeria’s earlier digital initiatives ahead of its full market entry.

Prior to the Agent Registration Portal rollout, the company introduced a Number Registration Portal, enabling prospective customers to select and reserve preferred phone numbers before the network goes live.

The service allows users to secure personalised numbers such as memorable dates, culturally significant digits, or easy-to-recall patterns through a simple online process, giving customers early control over their mobile identity.

The Agent Registration Portal onboarding process follows a structured flow from account creation and document upload to compliance checks, verification, approval, and activation. Applicants are required to submit details such as National Identification Number (NIN), valid government-issued ID, Tax Identification Number (TIN), and address information. Where all documentation is complete, onboarding can be completed within 30 minutes, after which applicants receive email confirmation and next steps.

Commenting on the launch, Mary O. Akin-Adesokan, Chief Operating Officer of Lebara Nigeria, said the portal is central to the company’s operational and growth strategy in the country.

“The Agent Registration Portal is a key part of our strategy to scale Lebara’s retail presence nationwide. It allows us to onboard partners faster, ensure full compliance, and provide both small retailers and large distributors with a transparent and reliable way to do business with Lebara.

“Together with our earlier Number Reservation Portal, it demonstrates our commitment to using digital innovation to simplify access, empower partners, and enhance the overall telecom experience,” she said.