The Commission said the new rate which takes effect January 1, 2022, is the floor price for ITR services.

Director, Public Affairs, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, disclosed this in a statement titled ‘NCC Sets New Mobile International Termination Rate for Voice Services.’

The statement read in part, “The rate is to be paid in US Dollar to enable Nigerian operators to receive an increasing rate in Naira terms to accommodate devaluation.

“No licensee shall charge and/or receive effective rate per minute below determined ITR floor rate. As such, payment discounts, volume discounts and any other concession that has the effect of bringing the effective ITR lower than the rate determined shall be deemed a contravention of the new determination and will attract sanctions in line with the Nigerian Communications (Enforcement process, etc.) Regulations, 2019. The ITR Floor is the minimum that can be charged. Operators will be free to negotiate a rate above the floor and this will be entirely left to commercial negotiation between the operators and international carriers/partners. However, while the ITR only pertains to the cost of bringing traffic into Nigeria, Nigerian operators will continue to pay the regulated Mobile Termination Rate (MTR), the local termination rate among themselves. The MTR of N3.90 for generic 2G/3G/4G operators and N4.70 for new entrant Long Term Evolution (LTE) operators determined in 2018, will continue to apply for local call terminations until a new rate is determined by the Commission pursuant to its powers as enshrined in the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003. The subsisting regime of interconnection rates was sustained by the Commission’s Mobile (voice) termination rate issued on June 1, 2018. In the determination, it was stated that the ITR of N24.40 determined in 2016 will continue to apply until a new determination is made. The ITR, being denominated in Naira had multiple negative impacts on local operators which was further exacerbated by episodes of devaluation of naira which ultimately left Nigeria from being a net receiver with respect to international minutes to a net payer. The Commission also observed that operators continue to face a series of challenges occasioned by the denomination of ITR in Naira, necessitating a need for a cost-based study on ITR. In view of the foregoing and in fulfilment of its statutory mandate of periodic review of regulatory policies, the Commission engaged Messrs’ Payday Advance and Support Services Limited to undertake a cost-based study of voice MTR that is most suitable for the Nigerian telecommunications industry. Commenting, the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, said in arriving at the new MTR of $0.045, “the Commission has carefully considered the information provided by stakeholders and taken a view on parameters and regulatory measures in the light of relevant information such as international experience, cost model results, the state of competition in the sector and the Nigerian macro-economic environment. He added that the process of arriving at the ITR had been conducted transparently with a view to providing maximum clarity to all parties without compromising the confidentiality of commercially-sensitive information. “We are confident that the result of the review will make a significant contribution to the development of the telecoms sector in Nigeria and be beneficial to subscribers, operators and the country at large. The EVC, on behalf of the Board and Management of the NCC, extended the Commission’s gratitude to all operators and industry stakeholders, who submitted information relating to the regulation of interconnection rates and the costing models as well as the consultant, for their participation in the process leading to the Determination.”

This is in furtherance of its commitment to encourage the development of new indigenous technologies and contents that are oriented in cutting-edge research to stimulate sustainable economic growth.

The beneficiaries of the grant included Clearflow System Hub, Aelaus Engineering Teams/Hyech Electronics Solutions, Kalibotics, and CyberNorth Tech.

They received N5 million each after emerging winners of Virtual NCC Internet of Things (IoT) Code Camp and Hackathon 2021 due to their innovative technology solutions aimed at making life better for Nigerians

This was disclosed in a statement titled, ‘Local Content: NCC Awards N20m Grant to Four Startups,’ signed by the Director Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde on Monday

According to the statement, “While the first two startups, Clearflow System Hub; and Aelaus Engineering Teams/Hyech Electronics Solutions, emerged winners on IoT category on kidnapping and banditry, Kalibotics and CyberNorth Tech, emerged winners on assistive robotics for effective e-waste management solutions

“The grant was for the novel digital solutions of four startups, aimed at finding innovative digital solutions in addressing the challenges of insecurity and to stem the growth in national e-waste rates while advancing the frontier of Internet of Things (IoT) in Nigeria.

“Speaking at the prize-giving ceremony held at the Commission’s headquarters, in Abuja recently, Director, New Media and Information Security, NCC, Dr. Haru Alhassan, who delivered a speech at the event, on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, said the Commission, as a frontline driver of innovation in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry, organized the second edition of the NCC Hackathon with a view to driving the creation of problem-solving tech innovations.  Danbatta said that the initiative was in line with the objectives of the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP) 2020, NCC’s Strategic Vision Plan (SVP) 2021-2025, Executive Order 5 of 2017, and Section 1 (f) of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003 which focuses on promotion of Nigerian content in contracts, science, engineering and technology. The EVC added that the occasion also symbolises the NCC’s commitment to deliver objectives of pillars 4, 7 and 8 of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) 2020-2030, and the aspirations of the Commission’s SVP 2021-2025 in promoting innovative services and maintaining effective partnership and collaborations with relevant stakeholders.Earlier, the Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Ubale Maska, who was represented by Head, Research and Development, Kelechi Nwankwo, noted that the event demonstrated the critical role that the telecommunications sector plays in addressing Nigeria’s social and environmental problems with innovative solutions. He reiterated the Commission’s commitment towards continuously supporting innovations for nation building. Underscoring the determination of the Commission towards harnessing the potentials of Nigerian youth in addressing emerging challenges through ICT, Maska said the event boldly demonstrates Commission’s resolve to champion the efforts of government to leverage telecommunications-based solutions to address societal issues that need urgent attention. Representatives of agencies in the security governance sector, telecommunications operators, National Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that attended the event lauded the NCC for the meaningful initiative.”

A statement released today Tuesday, December 15 by the NCC Director of Public Affairs of the NCC, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, stressed that any telecom operators that failed to comply with the directive risked outright withdrawal of its licence or heavy penalty.

The statement read “Following the earlier directive on the suspension of new SIM registration by network operators, the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) convened an urgent meeting of key stakeholders in the Communications industry on Monday, December 14, 2020. The meeting had in attendance the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Management of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), as well as the CEOs and Management staff of all service providers in the industry. Stakeholders agreed that urgent drastic measures have now become inevitable to improve the integrity and transparency of the SIM registration process. Following decisions were taken for immediate implementation by all Network Operators: Affirmation of the earlier directive to totally suspend the registration of NEW SIMs by all operators. Operators to require ALL their subscribers to provide valid National Identification Number (NIN) to update SIM registration records. The submission of NIN by subscribers to take place within two weeks (from today December 16, 2020, and end by 30 December 2020). After the deadline, ALL SIMs without NINs are to be blocked from the networks.  A Ministerial Task Force comprising the Minister and all the CEOs (among others) as members is to monitor compliance by all networks. Violations of this directive will be met by stiff sanctions, including the possibility of withdrawal of operating license. The general public is hereby urged to ensure that their NINs are captured in their SIM registration data,”