MNP Services in Rural Areas

Fri, Aug 9, 2013
By publisher
4 MIN READ

Business Briefs

THE Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC has said that no telecommunication service provider will be excused from providing Mobile Number Portability services to subscribers in the rural areas of the country. Edoyemi Ogoh, special assistant on technical matters to the executive vice-chairman, NCC, said the MNP scheme was national and must be implemented as such by the operators. “For the rural areas, the NCC is assuring Nigerians that the operators will be made to go to these areas by compulsion as the MNP is for the whole country,” he said.

According to him, this is because the regulatory body said it had discovered that the structures that would enhance porting services were lacking in most of the rural areas. And the operators are supposed to equip their customer care centres across the country with trained personnel and facilities necessary to make the porting process seamless.

Ogoh admitted that there were chances that the operators might want to avoid the rural areas because of the belief that such areas would generate lower returns compared to the urban centres. Few days ago, the telecoms network operators, under the aegis of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, ATCN, and the NCC disagreed over the resolution of the regulatory body to sanction errant operators under the MNP scheme.

Deepen Broadband Infrastructure

Ajayi
Ajayi

Lanre Ajayi, president, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, ATCON, has urged the federal government to transform the information communication technology sector through deeper broadband infrastructure. Ajayi said that broadband infrastructure in Nigeria was still inadequate to increase its penetration and that internet services such as e-governance, e-education and e-health would not be adequately provided if broadband penetration remained low.

Ajayi urged the Presidential Committee on Broadband to expedite action to enable the country to achieve deeper broadband penetration by 2018. According to him, poor telecoms infrastructure, legislative constraints and shortage of bandwidth were hindering broadband penetration.

He said that adequate broadband infrastructure in rural and urban areas would enable the country to meet its Vision 20:2020 in digital economy and information society. “With a low broadband penetration rate and high cost of access to broadband, significant work still remains to be done and significant investments still required to be made. Adequate infrastructure will drive the demand for broadband that would be more affordable and accessible to its end users,” he said.

The ATCON boss said that the achievement of a digital economy was in line with the Federal Government’s dream of sustainable economic growth. “We all know that, globally, issues around broadband development have continued to be on the front burner. This is because of the importance of broadband in the provision of various converged service types, especially the growing demand for speed, efficiency and effectiveness in provision of data. Indeed, the association is imploring governments to put in place policies that will drive broadband development and make it the digital right of every citizen through affordability and access.”

Honoured for Productivity

By Vincent Nzemeke  |

Wogu
Wogu

ABOUT 20 individuals and 10 organisations drawn from all sectors of the economy will be conferred with the 2013 National Productivity Order of Merit Award. Emeka Wogu, minister of labour and productivity made this known at a news conference in Abuja on Monday. Wogu said that the companies and individuals would receive the award on August 15, 2013, as part of events to mark the National Productivity Day.

Wogu, who stated the awards would be conferred by President Goodluck Jonathan, said the event would also be used to showcase locally made good by indigenous manufacturers and small and medium-scale business owners. He added that the awardees were selected after a through screening.

Listing activities that will mark the day, the minister said there would be a national symposium with the theme, “Productivity and Competitiveness: Determinants for Achieving National Transformation’’. The lecture will be delivered by Shamsudeen Usman, minister of national planning commission, while other eminent resource persons would also present papers at the symposium.

Some of those who have been pencilled down to receive awards are Joseph Adeseluka, Ajose Kudehinbu, Mao Ohuabunwa, Ndoma Nyambi and Omenihu Nwuogwugwu. Others are Emily Mieyefa, John Nwosu, Mohammed Bana, Charles Ogbonna, Ausbeth Nnamdi, Mrs Abiodun Aiyerin, and Godwin Omene.

Organisations to be awarded include Benue State Control Agency, Be-Bless Industries, Akwa Ibom State, Kano State Urban Planning and Development Authority, Eagle Food Processing Industry Nigeria Ltd., Anambra State and Sahad Stores Limited, Abuja. The Forestry Research Institutes of Nigeria, Ibadan, Borno State Ministry of Environment, Tito Yoghurt Company Ltd, Makurdi and Nisa Premier Hospital will also be honoured.

— Aug. 19, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT

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