Telecom
Nigerians Pay for Calls That Did Not Connect- Lawan
Ahmad Lawan, Senate President, has charged telecommunications service providers in the country to improve their services or leave the country, saying it is wrong for Nigerians to be made to pay for calls which did not connect.
He said that the National Assembly would henceforth be tough on the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to ensure that they carry out their regulatory functions effectively.
Lawan spoke while declaring open a one-day joint public hearing on the incidence of drop calls in the country.
The public hearing, tagged: “The increasing rate of drop calls and other unwholesome practices by Telecommunications Network Operators in Nigeria that have robbed Nigerians of their hard earned billions of Naira” was organized by the Senate Committees on Communication and Trade and Investment, chaired by Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central).
The Senate President said that it is wrong for Nigerians to be made to pay for calls which did not connect.
He lamented that all service providers are complicit in the rising cases of drop calls in the country for which they charge Nigerians.
Lawan said: “Whoever will provide better services, I think Nigerians will be better advised to use that service whatever it is.
“And whoever is not, Nigerians should abandon such a service provider. But at the moment all the service providers are involved in this drop calls.
“We pay for drop calls and drop calls are not services provided. For service providers, I am sorry I have to be brash and I have to be blunt, this is cumulative frustration of services not provided by telcos for years.
“The most painful part it is you don’t do it anywhere else. You do it in this country. We suffer. MTN in South Africa don’t do what they do here. Or even in Ghana.
“But in Nigeria, maybe because we are too fatalistic by saying maybe that is what God wishes, meanwhile somebody pockets billions.
“Please, let this be a journey for us in Government representing the people and you, service providers, business institutions or organizations come together and resolve this issue. It is high time.
“I know some of you will say well, we have heard this before, honestly we are going to be tough with the NCC.
“NCC should sit up and do what it is expected to do – to regulate properly because we have oversight function on NCC.
“But you (telcos) you are in business. If you are tired of what is going on I think we will insist on what may appear an uphill task.”
Senator Tinubu in her opening remarks noted that the Nigerian telecoms industry has greatly excelled over the last decade with impressive statistics to show for it.
She how lamented that the achievements in the industry have been greatly hampered by the worsening quality of service by operators.
She lamented that difficulties are often encountered in making telephone calls and “where the call eventually goes through, the caller is either unable to hear the receiver or vice versa.”
She insisted that in spite of a call being unsuccessful, the caller’s account still get charged.
Senator Tinubu said: “The achievements of the industry in the last 18 years are burdened and dwarfed by worsening Quality of Service (QOS) especially noticeable in the increasing rate of drop calls and other unwholesome practices by telecommunications network Operators.
“This and other unsatisfactory consumer experiences have made the issue a cause for concern.
“Difficulties are often encountered in making telephone calls and where the call eventually goes through, the caller is either unable to hear the receiver or vice versa.
“In spite of the call being unsuccessful, the caller’s account still gets charged. In addition, call credit often disappears from the subscribers phones without justifiable explanation.”
She further noted that “it is obvious that while the subscriber base across the networks is growing at a geometric proportion, service providers have not adequately invested in infrastructure in order to stem the tide of drop calls.
“As direct representatives of the Nigerian people, it will be absurd to fold our arms and allow this situation continue unabated.
“Certainly, all involved, starting from the operators, must confront the issue of drop calls owing to its negative impact on National Security and our nation’s economy.
“It is my belief therefore, that it is instructive for both the regulator and operators; and of course all relevant stakeholders, to strive to resolve this challenge of drop calls so as to justify the confidence of subscribers who keep them in business.”
Stakeholders that attended the public hearing included the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Umar Dambata, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council, Babatunde Irukera, and the representatives of the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), MTN, Airtel, Glo and 9Mobile, among others.
Most of the stakeholders blamed insecurity, vandalism, community antagonism, multiple fiber cuts, double taxation and road construction works for the drop calls sometimes experienced by subscribers.
All the representatives of service providers in their presentation said that drop calls are not usually charged by the networks.
Pan African Towers (PAT), a Nigerian infrastructure provider serving 9mobile and Spectranet, has appointed Echezona Osi as chief executive officer.
Echezona Osi
Adefolarin Ogunsanya, company’s, board chairman, explained in a statement that Osi would succeed Oladipo Badru, whose tenure lasted nine months in acting CEO position. Osi has more than 28 years of experience in the telecommunications sector across various regions of Africa.
Prior to his appointment as CEO, he had served as the head of network deployment at Airtel Nigeria, operations director and chief technical information officer at MIC Tanzania, chief technology officer roles at IPT PowerTech Nigeria, Rhino Niger Networks and Biswal Nigeria.
He obtained a degree in electrical/ electronic engineering from the University of Benin and a postgraduate diploma in data science and business analytics from the University of Texas.
Companies sending bulk international text messages, also known as Application-to-Person (A2P) messages, will now have apply for a licence that costs N10 million.
This is part of new rules introduced by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) aimed at cleaning up the system, fighting fraud, blocking spam messages and stopping money from leaving the country unchecked.
These A2P messages are the kind customers get from banks, online stores, hospitals and political campaigns, automated texts sent from apps to their phones.
According to the commission, the bulk international text message system has been poorly regulated, allowing misuse and invasion of privacy.
“The International SMS Service Ecosystem in Nigeria has not been fully brought under regulatory control. It has been observed that the excessive use of the Short Message Service has led to fraud, spam and illegal activities,” the NCC said.
The regulator warned that without action, the problem would worsen as more people use mobile phones and digital services.
To solve this, the NCC is creating a central platform, or gateway, through which all international bulk text messages must pass through.
The agency said this would help to monitor messages in real time, ensure proper fees are paid, and make sure the money stays in Nigeria where it can contribute to the economy.
As part of the incoming change, service providers must follow strict rules, including strong data protection, spam filters, and message encryption.
Also, they must also work with local mobile networks and make sure all messages come from a verified sender
The NCC warned that any message without a proper sender ID will be blocked and not delivered to users.
To protect users from unwanted texts, the new rules say companies must get clear permission before sending any promotional content.
The rule also says people must also be able to choose whether they want to receive such messages or not.
Companies are now required to keep records of all messages for at least six months and must clearly state all charges involved.
The NCC said fees for help requests, cancellations, or service info must be transparent and not include hidden charges.
The commission will issue licences to several providers to encourage healthy competition but may limit new licences if needed.
Only companies that show they can stop fraud and safely deliver messages will be allowed to operate. They must also regularly report their message traffic and finances to the NCC.
It warned that any company that breaks the rules risks getting fined, suspended, or having its licence revoked.
Offences like charging illegal tariffs, ignoring security rules, or avoiding taxes will be punished, the NCC said.
The commission added that the new rules follow the Nigerian Data Protection Act 2023 and support the federal government’s goal of strengthening cybersecurity and controlling Nigeria’s digital space.
The framework will also be reviewed from time to time to keep up with new technology and market trends.
MTN Nigeria has launched what it claims is the country’s largest prefabricated modular data centre, marking a bold push into the country’s fast-growing cloud market and taking aim at global giants such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
Karl Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria.
The shift comes as demand for cloud services in Nigeria soars — driven by the uptake of mobile apps, fintech tools and e-learning platforms — while foreign providers have become costlier in the wake of the naira’s sharp devaluation.
“This is one of the biggest data centres in West Africa and probably one of the biggest in Africa,” said Karl Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria.
He described the new Tier III-certified facility, with locally hosted cloud services, as “transformative for the technology ecosystem in Nigeria and very supportive of the federal government’s agenda”.
MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest telecoms provider, has so far invested $120m in the first phase, delivering an IT load of 4.5MW. A second phase, set to double capacity to 9MW, is budgeted at $135m.
“We already have data centres that are running our existing capacities,” Toriola said.
“We will go to 9MW in short order, possibly 14MW, and we can expand even further.”
He said the facility would allow local hosting for tech developers, large enterprises including banks and oil companies, and government agencies — markets long dominated by foreign cloud providers.
“Multinational companies such as Netflix, Facebook and Instagram can also host a lot of their data here. That improves the quality of service and reduces the cost of storage,” he added.
PAT Taps Osi as CEO
Africa Launches PAPSSCARD, First Pan-African Card Scheme
Burna Boy Distances Himself from Meme Coin, Labels Crypto as Fraud
NCC Introduces N10m Licence Fee for Bulk SMS Service
MTN Nigeria Targets $1Bn Cloud Market with Largest Modular Data Centre
Broadcasting1 day agoNigeria Week Ahead: Inflation, Oil and Naira in focus
News1 day agoEFCC: Accusations Against Our Chairman Are Baseless and Misleading
Broadcasting5 hours agoA Billion-Dollar Obsession in 90-Second Bites
General News2 hours agoWoodhall Capital and Partners Launch ₦1.5Bn Fund
General News2 hours agoAM Best Reaffirms Stable Outlook for Cyber Insurance Market
News2 hours agoFirstBank, NLNG, Shell back QEDNG Creative Powerhouse Summit
News2 hours agoExperts Urge MSMEs to Build Strong Partnerships in Solving Problems,
Telecom2 hours agoMTN Nigeria Targets $1Bn Cloud Market with Largest Modular Data Centre