Telecom
Telecom World 2014 Highlights Innovations, Technologies to Shape Future of ICTs

ITU Telecom World 2014 closed its doors yesterday following four busy days of high-level debate, networking, knowledge sharing and showcasing.
A dynamic and truly diverse line-up of participants from around the world attended the event, including Cisco, Huawei, Intel, LS telcom, Nokia, Ooredoo, Rohde & Schwarz, Vodafone and ZTE, with pavilions from Argentina, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Chad, China, Hungary, Nigeria, Malaysia, Qatar, Tanzania, Thailand and Zimbabwe, while Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Rwanda came together within the Smart Africa zone on the show floor.
“Over the last few days I’ve seen the evolution of a roadmap that provides an immersive, interactive and deeply informative view of the future of ICTs,” said Hamadoun I. Touré, ITU secretary-general.
“This has been evident in the Leadership Summit and Forum, bringing insights into industry shifts and macro trends from top names on the show floor and looking at new technologies developing in The Lab. I was also deeply impressed by the bright sparks who are building the future of technology and business, in the Young Innovators Programme.”
Organized by ITU, the United Nations Specialized Agency for ICTs, the event was hosted by the Government of Qatar, with the support of leading international communications company, Ooredoo.
“Ooredoo was delighted to work with ITU to organize ITU Telecom World 2014, on behalf of the Government of Qatar,” said Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al Thani, chairman of the Board of directors Ooredoo Group.
“Helping host this unique platform, for global experts to share views and insights on how we can use ICTs to enhance lives, is in line with Ooredoo’s and Qatar’s strategic vision, and it has been an inspirational experience. We were also very pleased to be able to showcase our latest technologies to this global audience, and to shine a spotlight on Qatar as a global technology hub.”
“Huawei was delighted to showcase its visions of “Building a Better Connected World”, outlining a more convenient and smarter lifestyle featuring futuristic 5G connectivity technologies, ubiquitous broadband connectivity, connected smart cities and smart homes to the global audience convened at ITU Telecom World 2014.” said Mr Ken HU, deputy chairman of the Board and Rotating CEO, Huawei.
“At the event, Huawei also shared views and insights on technology, business and investment model innovation and called for collaboration among stakeholders to rejuvenate global broadband development.”
The event showcased sponsored sessions from Alcatel-Lucent, BBC, CNN, ESOA, Geddes Consulting, Huawei, IPv6 Forum, ITU-D, Nokia, TDIA, TCCA, and tm-forum, and covered a range of different areas from ‘Big Data to universal broadband’, ‘enabling the digital future’, ‘hidden risks’, ‘unexplored opportunities from circuits to packets’, ‘LTE for public safety’, ‘ICTs for saving lives’, and more.
Telecom
Airtel Africa Extends $100M Share Buyback Plan

Airtel Africa has extended its $100 million share buyback programme, first launched in December 2024, in partnership with Barclays Capital Securities Limited. The scheme, aimed at improving shareholder returns, has so far returned $34.7 million through the repurchase of 14.2 million shares, with $20.3 million still to be acquired.
The initiative, now running until March 2026, follows the completion of an initial $50 million phase in April 2025 and currently includes a $55 million tranche.
The telecommunications group, listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), is operating within regulations that restrict share buybacks to 15 percent of issued shares over two years. All repurchased shares will be cancelled, reducing the company’s share capital and potentially increasing earnings per share (EPS).
The buyback follows a strong performance in the first quarter of 2025, when Airtel Africa reported a 16-fold increase in EPS to 3.4 cents, supported by higher operating profits and lower foreign exchange losses. The company also raised capital expenditure by 27 percent, investing $737 million in 2024 to expand infrastructure and secure spectrum across its markets.
The extension of the scheme, according to Airtel Africa, also reflects its intention to provide consistent shareholder value while maintaining investment in its network. The partnership with Barclays ensures compliance with regulations during closed trading periods and seeks to limit market disruption.
Airtel Africa has in recent years considered a separate listing of its mobile money business but postponed the initial public offering in 2025, choosing instead to direct capital into shareholder-focused measures such as the buyback.
Industry observers point out that buybacks may improve financial ratios by reducing outstanding shares, but they can also indicate fewer reinvestment options. Airtel Africa has argued that its programme complements long-term growth priorities, pointing to a 29.5 percent increase in mobile money revenue and a 24 percent rise in its customer base.
The company continues to weigh shareholder rewards alongside reinvestment, citing foreign exchange volatility and other economic pressures in its largest market, Nigeria.
Telecom
Stakeholders Chart Strategic Path for MVNOs in Nigeria

A decisive call for collaboration, strategic market positioning, and patient capital has been issued by key players in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector to unlock the dormant potential of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs).
The resolution emerged from the sixth edition of the Telecoms Sector Sustainability Forum (TSSF) organised by Business Remarks at Ikeja, Lagos State, where stakeholders convened under the theme: Unlocking Nigeria’s MVNO Potential: Status, Trends, Investment, and Future Prospects.
The forum, which brought together major mobile network operators (MNOs), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and licensed MVNOs, served as a candid platform to diagnose the critical challenges stifling the growth of the MVNO sub-sector. The forum stressed that the sustainability of MVNOs in Nigeria is a collective responsibility. It called for unwavering collaboration between MNOs, the NCC, and the MVNOs to replicate the success stories seen in other nations, ultimately fostering a more diverse, competitive, and inclusive telecommunications market for all Nigerians.
In his keynote address, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communication Commission, NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida said the entrance of MVNOs is expected to provide competitive niche offerings as well as enhance digital communications ecosystem in Nigeria for the benefit of the subscribers and the Nigerian economy.
Ably represented by the Director of Licensing and Authorisation, Mr Usman Mamman, NCC noted that there are now over 1000 MVNOs globally, with more than 500 operating in Europe alone and 46 MVNO Licenses were issued in Nigeria by the regulator in the year 2023.
Addressing stakeholders, Maida stated that the Commission is not oblivion to the challenges faced by MVNOs in Nigeria, particularly in relation to commercial negotiations. He therefore pledged that NCC is working assiduously with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to improve network capacity.
Furthermore, NCC’s EVC encouraged MNOs to partner with MVNOs to target new verticals, drive margin growth as well as to monetize spare capacity, while urging MVNOs players to recognise the viability of the Nigerian market, invest boldly, and position themselves to reap the long-term benefits of their investments.
In his speech, the President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr Tony Izuagbe Emoekpere, dissuaded MVNO Licensees from blindly adopting foreign MVNOs model for Nigerian local market and consumers. He urged players to conduct diligent market analysis and focus on service differentiation through specialized offerings. “MVNOs need to carve a unique niche specially designed for the Nigerian market,” Emoekpere said.
Speaking on this, the co-founder and executive director, Infratel Africa, Dr Tola Yusuf, stressed that MVNOs in Nigeria’s market must adopt a more strategic approach to succeed in rural and underserved areas. Categorically noting that there are immense potential in connecting these rural communities, Yusuf argued that MVNOs often focus on urban, high-density areas like Lagos, neglecting the vast majority of the population, estimated at over 25 million people who remain completely unconnected.
“The true winners in the MVNO space will be those who develop a clear strategy to serve these markets, even if it requires significant logistical effort, such as using horses or boats to reach remote communities,” he said. He also suggested that the current market might see future mergers and acquisitions, with some license holders potentially selling their licenses as they fail to compete effectively.
Citing examples of banks with MVNOs licenses in other climes, NCC’s Director of Licensing and Authorisation, Mr Usman Mamman during the panel session draws attention to how financial institutions have successfully entered the telecom space by understanding its customers’ needs and tailoring holistic lifestyle services accordingly.
While addressing the need to focus on providing niche services to specific customer groups, Mamman noted that unlike large mobile network operators, MVNOs are expected to be digital-first and flexible, which enables them to be innovative and quickly capitalize on underserved market segments.
On his part, the Director USK Mobile, Dr Chidi Ajuzie, called attention to the capacity constraints by the host MNOs and the revenue- sharing model that can limit profitability. Ajuzie
According to him, “Tier 5 MVNOs are expected to build their own core infrastructure and billing systems (BSS/OSS), but they still rely on the MNO’s radio access network. This creates a bottleneck. Even if a Tier 5 MVNO has excellent billing systems, it can’t offer unlimited data or guaranteed high speeds if the MNO’s network is already at capacity,” he stated.
Ajuzie, however, said some higher-tier are now looking for innovative ways to go beyond the constraint by securing acquiring additional licenses, such as Internet Service Provider (ISP) or Public Licence (PL) licenses.
He also emphasized the
need for a significant expansion of the existing infrastructure, particularly by MVNOs who are now integrating their own fixed infrastructure, such as fiber networks. This expansion, he says, is the only way to “expand the pipe” and create a truly competitive and viable market for all players.
Also speaking ipNX Director of Startegic Business Initiative, Mr Olusola Teniola argued that the nation’s 40,000 telecom towers are grossly insufficient for a population of over 200 million, especially when compared to the United Kingdom’s 75,000 towers for a much smaller population. He stated that unlike developed nations where public funds initially built a robust telecom backbone, Nigeria’s infrastructure was financed by a few dominant mobile network operators (MNOs) who have invested billions.
Teniola posited that the lack of widespread infrastructure, particularly outside major cities like Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt, presents a major challenge for new MVNOs, which were intended to serve the millions of unconnected Nigerians, particularly in rural areas. He also warned that without substantial new investment to expand the network, the MVNO business model will struggle to succeed, with only those that can survive a long-term, 7-to-10-year investment cycle likely to see a return on their capital.
In her welcome address, the Convener who also doubles as the Managing Editor of Business Remarks, Bukola Olanrewaju, said the Nigerian telecom market is growing at an incredible pace and the level of success recorded in each country with MVNOs is largely dependent on the regulatory enforcement and interventions, wholesale agreement, spectrum access, and on how effectively MVNOs players can navigate these hurdles.
“To succeed, Nigeria must collectively build an ecosystem that is both competitive and sustainable,” Olanrewaju remarked as she brought into focus MVNOs operations in South Africa, Thailand and Argentina.
The forum, TSSF 6.0, stressed that the sustainability of MVNOs in Nigeria is a collective responsibility. It called for unwavering collaboration between MNOs, the NCC, and the MVNOs themselves to replicate the success stories seen in other nations, ultimately fostering a more diverse, competitive, and inclusive telecommunications market for all Nigerians.
Telecom
Airtel AI Blocks 84 Percent of Spam SMS in Nigeria

Nigeria has recorded an 84 Percent decline in spam SMS after Airtel Africa deployed its Artificial Intelligence-powered spam detection tool, Spam Alert.
According to Airtel, the free service has flagged over 205 million fraudulent and unsolicited messages across 13 African markets within six months.
Nigeria registered the sharpest decline, while Kenya recorded the highest flagged spam volume with 68 million messages, followed by Tanzania with 47 million and Zambia with 33 million.
Spam Alert prefixes suspicious SMS with “SPAM Alert,” providing users with real-time protection against phishing scams and nuisance texts without requiring extra applications.
Sunil Taldar, CEO, Airtel Africa, said the solution demonstrates the company’s commitment to tackling digital fraud as smartphone penetration expands across Africa.
Currently active in 13 of Airtel’s 14 markets, including Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, and Tanzania, the service has cut overall spam SMS by 12% across the continent. Seychelles will join soon, Airtel confirmed.
In Nigeria, Airtel reported that between March 13 and May 20, 2025, the system intercepted more than 9.6 million suspicious messages, of which over 9.1 million originated from off-network sources. T
he AI-powered system scans all SMS in real-time using 250 parameters, including sender identity, link structure, and regional anomalies, processing each message in under two milliseconds without storing content.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) welcomed the innovation.
Dr. Aminu Maida, executive vice chairman, said the initiative strengthens consumer protection at a time when spam and fraud are growing more sophisticated. He stressed the need for more collaboration between operators and regulators to reduce digital risks.
The NCC’s 2023 Industry Risk Report had ranked phishing and bulk unsolicited messaging among the top threats facing subscribers, especially in rural areas and among first-time smartphone users.
Airtel’s initiative is expected to ease these concerns by reinforcing trust in mobile communications.
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