Telecom
NCC Campus Conversation Moves to University of Abuja
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has held the maiden edition of the Campus Conversation at the University of Abuja. Campus Conversation is featured as an important part of NCC’s new Telecom Consumer Conversation (TCC).
Efosa Idehen, Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, NCC, (Center) with other participants at the Main Campus of the University of Abuja over the weekend.
Speaking at the event, which held at the Main Campus of the University of Abuja at the weekend, NCC’s Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, Efosa Idehen, said the Commission, as a consumer-centric regulator, has always been at the forefront of protecting the interest of the consumers.
He said the Commission has, over the years, embarked on many initiatives and programmes to deliver on its consumer protection mandate, as enshrined in the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003 and in line with other subsidiary legislations, guidelines, directions and determinations, in order to proactively address consumer concerns.
Idehen stated that, as a modified outreach programme, Campus Conversation takes life from NCC’s consumer protection and empowerment agenda as stipulated in the Commission’s Strategic Management and Vision Plans, as well as extant policies and well-conceived decisions of Management.
The objective of the Conversation is to ensure that the telecom consumers on university campuses are adequately informed and educated on their rights and privileges to acquire knowledge they require to take informed decision and protect themselves from unwholesome practices from service providers.
“Essentially, this maiden edition of our Campus Conversation is kicking off here at the University of Abuja today, as part of our strategic effort at creating awareness among the university students on their rights and obligations as telecoms consumers, as well as sensitising them on the many initiatives of the Commission designed to enhance consumer protection and empowerment,” Idehen said.
At the event, the NCC team led by Idehen, took turns to educate the campus community on Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) registration, the Benefits of National Identity Number (NIN)-SIM Integration, Cybersecurity and related online protection issues, among other initiatives of the NCC.
Participants were also enlightened on the various consumer-centric activities of NCC such as the NCC Consumer Complaint Toll-free Number 622; the Do-Not-Disturb (DND) Short Code 2442 instituted to manage unsolicited messages; the National Emergency Toll-free Number 112 which every citizen is expected to know and use during emergencies. Over twenty Emergency Communication Centres (ECCs) where 112 calls are received and escalated, have been constructed by the NCC and operational in different states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
Other Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials printed in bookmarks, handbills and stickers were distributed. The IECs cover a wide-range of topics on consumer concerns, including Consumer Bill of Rights, Complaints Management Process, Mobile Number Portability (MNP), SIM Registration, Obligations of Telecom Service Providers and the Consumers, and Tips on Managing Data Usage.
The event provided a rare opportunity to the students and other members of the University community to interface with the Commission. The NCC team responded to questions and comments relating to the participants’ experience with telecom services.
The Vice-Chancellor of University of Abuja, Prof. Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah, who was represented at the forum by the University’s Head of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department, Dr. Evans Ashigwuike, commended the NCC for the elaborate enlightenment programme hosted in the university community, which he described as highly beneficial to the students.
Na’Allah assured the Commission that the University will ensure that students, who attended the Consumer Conversation pass the knowledge gained and the IEC materials circulated by NCC to their fellow students for effective knowledge-sharing and education.
The TCC, now segmented and targeted at different consumer groups, comprises: The Village Square Dialogue, The Telecom Public Sphere, The Professionals’ Dialogue, Campus Conversation, Market Conversation and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Sensitization.
Aside the TCC, other strategic outreach programmes of the Commission, delivered through its Consumer Affairs Bureau, include Consumer Telecom Town Halls on Radio, a phone-in radio dialogic programme to educate consumers at the grassroots; Telecom and The Citizen, a bi-monthly Twitter Live Chat targeting telecom consumers that are active on the social media; and Telecom TV Dialogue, a monthly television-based discourse on topical telecom issues.
MTN Nigeria’s commitment to digital innovation took center stage at MarkHack 4.0, the annual marketing and technology conference held at Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Friday, May 23, 2025, with the theme ‘Experience Ignited: Fueling the Customer’s Journey’.
L-R: Akinbulejo Onabolu, Head, Enterprise Segment, MTN Nigeria; Eneyi Obi, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Rise; Tobi Olanisimi, Marketing Manager, AB InBev; Martha Kayode, Marketing Head, PZ Cussonz; Sulaiman Shaibu, CEO, BFT Consulting Service and Daniel Adeyemi, Managing Editor, Condia Business at the MarkHack 4.0 Conference held at the Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos on Friday, May 23, 2025.
In a celebration of innovation, technology, and storytelling, the company also took home the award for Best Use of Data in a Marketing Campaign at the Nigeria MarTech (MarkHack 4.0) Awards Night. This award recognizes brands that have successfully transformed data into compelling narratives and actionable insights to meaningfully engage their audiences.
Akinbulejo Onabolu, Senior Manager, Segment Management, Enterprise Business at MTN, joined a panel to discuss the power of immersive technologies on consumer behaviour. Drawing from MTN’s launch of its 5G Digital Experience Centre in Abuja last year, Onabolu highlighted the rapid evolution of immersive technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) stating “Our 5G centre is a sandbox for our customers to come and see how technology can shape things. At the launch event, we unveiled a smart city to customers, clients and dignitaries in attendance, with gaming and other tech experiences.”
On the intersection of data, AR and VR, he added: “Co-creating with MTN takes our minds to a platform where different partners, companies and creators can bring their buildings, products and businesses for people to see via augmented reality and connectivity, just swiping through and following through that journey.
“As a part of impacting our customer’s lives, a few years ago, we also played around with the Metaverse and we ended up creating some of our back-office processes with some of our customer journeys on augmented reality and virtual reality such that a customer somewhere can engage with a virtual agent to solve real life problems and integrating that back into our operating systems. As an organization, at a lot of our events, you will find a lot of AR and VR experiences.”
Speaking on how MTN is embedding immersive technology into its day-to-day operations, he explained that the company is prioritizing both internal capability development and external engagement. “85% of our organization has undergone extensive training on AI and that already is a great addition to our daily lives. We’re using it to do things differently, developing user journeys and brainstorming different things. In terms of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, we are working with organizations to develop training programs which we use internally.”
He described the bases for this tech as stable connectivity, high bandwidth, high speed and low latency. “Over the past year, we’ve doubled our 5G capacity across the entire country. Wherever you are, you’ll probably start to pick up 5G. With our FibreX service, we’re going way beyond connectivity to create the systems and platforms to support the ecosystem, AR and VR. In addition to this, we’re also engaging regulatory systems to start to tease this out and build the proper governance.”
The session, moderated by Daniel Adeyemi, Managing Editor at Condia Business, also featured insights from leaders in FMCG, consulting, and global marketing, all underscoring the transformative potential of immersive technologies for Africa’s future.
MTN Nigeria has announced a massive capital expenditure (CAPEX) drive for 2025, nearly doubling its investment to almost 900 billion Naira, as it seeks to significantly enhance network service quality in major cities like Lagos and Abuja and extend improvements to other areas.
Karl Toriola
This financial commitment, up from a combined total of approximately 440 billion Naira spent in 2023 and 2024, was detailed by MTN Nigeria CEO, Dr. Karl Toriola, during a recent interview on Arise TV.
Toriola highlighted that a key focus of the increased CAPEX will be on “putting additional capacity in a city like Lagos, particularly in Abuja, where you have a lot of buildings coming up, you need additional sites because there are coverage issues.”
Beyond these critical urban centres, the investment aims to bolster network resilience and ensure power stability for its infrastructure nationwide. This includes proactively addressing site outages by ensuring timely payment for operational necessities such as diesel for generators, a persistent challenge in the Nigerian operating environment
The CEO outlined the comprehensive nature of the upgrade process, which involves “placing orders formally, opening letters of credit, and then the equipment gets shipped in and installed.” He added that where necessary, MTN will be “acquiring new sites” and “laying fiber to the base station to create better stability.”
While the immediate CAPEX is geared towards improving existing service quality and capacity, this investment aligns with MTN’s broader goals, which include enhancing financial inclusion in underserved rural areas, suggesting a long-term vision for network expansion and service improvement that extends beyond metropolitan areas.
Customers are expected to begin experiencing the positive impact of these investments with a “significant improvement in quality of service” anticipated by the end of the second quarter or early in the third quarter of 2025, according to Toriola.
Airtel Nigeria, telecom service provider, has announced that its AI-powered Spam Alert Service issued over 9.6 million spam alerts between March 13 and May 20, 2025.
As part of its ongoing commitment to protecting customers from unwanted and potentially fraudulent communications, Airtel designed the AI Spam Alert service to analyze traffic patterns and detect anomalies.
In the period since launch the AI pinpointed a total of 9,667,008 SMS as potential spam messages in the two months after its launch.
Of these, the system identified 528,080 on-net (Airtel-to-Airtel) and 9,138,928 off-net (from other networks) numbers as suspected spam messages, demonstrating the scale of the threat and Airtel’s advanced processing capability.
Airtel Nigeria is a subsidiary of Airtel Africa.
Commenting on this development, Dinesh Balsingh, CEO, Airtel Nigeria, restated Airtel`s commitment to protecting its customers.
“This milestone demonstrates the strength of our AI-driven infrastructure in combating the growing menace of spam and scam calls. At Airtel Nigeria, we are focused on connecting Nigerians and ensuring their safety and confidence while using our network.
“We understand that trust is the cornerstone of digital communication. That’s why we’ve invested heavily in intelligent systems that not only detect potential threats but also learn and evolve with data. As threats become more sophisticated, so will our solutions. As a company, we remain focused on leading the industry in innovation and customer satisfaction, ensuring that every Nigerian can enjoy a safer and smarter digital experience,” Mr. Balsingh said.
The Spam Alert Service is part of Airtel Nigeria’s broader strategy to integrate artificial intelligence into its core offerings to deliver smarter and safer experiences for its customers across the country.
Recall that the Spam Alert Service was launched on March 13, 2025. A groundbreaking and free solution from Airtel, it notifies users in real-time of suspected spam SMS messages by analyzing over 250 parameters.
The Airtel AI Spam Alert Service is available to all Airtel subscribers on smartphones and feature phones.
Firm Reports a 48% Increase in Malicious Packages Threatening Software Supply Chains
Senate Passes Harmonised Report on Tax Reform Bills
FG to Provide High-fibre Internet in 12 Universities by Year End
The Silent Killer of Great Companies: A Guide To Why Your Processes Will Break (and How to Fix Them)
EFCC Witness Admits Writing Off Arik Air’s $2.3M Debt Amid N76Bn Fraud Trial
E-Financial3 days agoEFCC Recovers over N20Bn Stolen by Hackers from 6 Banks in Nigeria
Telecom3 days agoEngr. Ikechukwu Nnamani Receives Two Prestigious @ABoICT Awards
Telecom3 days agoFG to Deploy 80 Percent of 7000 Telecom Towers to North
E-Business2 days agoNigeria Among Hotspots as Kaspersky Warns of Rising Ransomware Threat in Africa
E-Financial3 days agoPonzi Scheme Operators Risk N10m Penalty, Others- IST Chair
E-Financial2 days agoFidelity Bank Plc Wins 2025 DBN Innovation Award for MSME Support
News3 days agoEFCC Recovers Funds, Arrests Suspects in N1.3 Trillion CBEX Crypto Fraud
E-Financial3 days agoUBA Launches *919# Advance Top-Up Feature for Instant Access to Customers