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Twitter and ViacomCBS Announce Global Content Partnership, Plans for Twitter ‘Watch Parties’

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Twitter and ViacomCBS on Wednesday announced a sizable global deal that will see the social media platform streaming digital content from across the ViacomCBS portfolio of news, sports and entertainment brands — including content from live events, TV shows and other franchises.

In addition, ViacomCBS-owned streaming service Paramount+ will host three “Twitter Watch Parties” designed to capitalize on Twitter’s ability to serve as a second screen and a home to fan communities and conversations.

The companies did not specify which Paramount+ shows would be hosted as Watch Parties, only noting that they would be original series.

The content partnership represents a significant expansion of Twitter’s prior deal with the media giant. Before, Twitter’s deal had been a U.S.-only partnership with just Viacom, ahead of the ViacomCBS merger.

The renewed agreement is now a multi-year, global deal and expands to include the entire ViacomCBS portfolio. That means it also now includes news and sports, instead of only entertainment properties, as before. The companies declined to detail the financial terms, however.

The ViacomCBS umbrella today covers a wide range of brands, such as BET, CBS Television Network, CBS News, CBS Sports, Channel 5, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Network 10, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network and Telefe.

In recent months, Twitter and ViacomCBS have partnered on select live events, including the 2021 MTV Music Video Awards, which aired its live pre-show on Twitter, and the BET Awards, which livestreamed from the red carpet to Twitter. It’s likely that under the new agreement, Twitter users will gain continued access to these types of events. As for which other properties and programs will be featured on Twitter in the months ahead, ViacomCBS would not say.

While the new agreement is focused on hosting digital content, it will also involve Twitter’s marketing support.

The ViacomCBS programs will be eligible for both marketing support and brand sponsorship sales through Twitter’s Amplify program, which connects ViacomCBS’ video with Twitter’s paid reach and targeting, the company said. ViacomCBS will also leverage other marketing features around live video, real-time highlights and Twitter Moments.

Twitter in previous years had heavily focused on its ability to serve live video content to its users, by doing things like pinning live video to the top of the Timeline, offering livestreamed events and concerts, and more. But over time, news of those types of partnerships dwindled. Twitter even shut down its own livestreaming app Periscope to focus more on its new set of social features, like Fleets, Spaces, Communities, Super Follows and others.

But Twitter is again doing deals to make digital content a part of its core offering. In early 2021, for example, NBCUniversal and Twitter announced their own global, multi-year partnership, similar to this with ViacomCBS.

“We’re thrilled to extend our long-standing relationship with Twitter in this expansive global deal that brings together the full ViacomCBS portfolio and magnifies the scale and scope of our valued partnership,” said Andrea Wolinetz, SVP, Distribution & Business Development-Streaming at ViacomCBS, in a statement.

“Twitter is the digital water cooler for trending topics and fandom worldwide, and we’re excited to provide front-row access to innovative digital content experiences and culture-defining moments across the best of entertainment, news and sports for Twitter users everywhere.”


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Ugo Onwuaso is an ICT enthusiast. He believes technology should be used for general good. He holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Lagos state University. Dear Reader, Your support matters. But we believe that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. That is why, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and finance and how they affect lives. Our incisive and analytical view of how technology news affects the daily life help individuals and organizations make up their minds. Quality journalism costs money. Today, we're asking that you support us to do more. Kindly support our effort to deliver technology and finance journalism to everyone in the world. Donate as little as N1,000. Bank transfers can be made to: UBA Plc 1017156876 Communication Week Media Ltd

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PAT Taps Osi as CEO

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Pan African Towers (PAT), a Nigerian infrastructure provider serving 9mobile and Spectranet, has appointed Echezona Osi as chief executive officer.

PAT Taps Osi as CEO

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.


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NCC Introduces N10m Licence Fee for Bulk SMS Service

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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.

NCC Introduces N10m Licence Fee for Bulk SMS Service

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.


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MTN Nigeria Targets $1Bn Cloud Market with Largest Modular Data Centre

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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.

MTN Nigeria Targets $1Bn Cloud Market with Largest Modular Data Centre

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.

 


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