Internet
Minister: Broadband subscriptions increased by 4,061,731 in October
Home Telecom Broadband penetration in Nigeria increased to 45.43 per cent by the end of October 2020, the Federal Government announced on Wednesday. Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, said the rise was due to an increase of 4,061,731 broadband subscriptions between September and October 2020. He said the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy led to the rise in broadband subscriptions across the country during the review month. Pantami, who disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja by his Technical Assistant, Information Technology, Femi Adeluyi, observed that the Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2020-2025 had impacted significantly on broadband penetration. The minister noted that the plan was implemented alongside the harmonisation of Right-of...
Broadband penetration hits 45.43 percent in Nigeria
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, says broadband penetration in Nigeria increased to 45.43 per cent in October. Dr Femi Adeluyi, Technical Assistant on Information Technology to the minister, said this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja. Adeluyi said that this was due to an increase of 4,061,731 broadband subscriptions between September and October 2020. “This increase in broadband penetration has been as a result of conscientious implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy for the overall benefit of the economy to achieve a Digital Nigeria. “The Nigerian National Broadband Plan (2020-2025), along with the harmonisation of Right of Way charges across the states and protection of critical national infrastructure across the country, had a signifi...
INEC admits challenges in deployment of technology in 2019 elections
File Photo The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confessed that the deployment of technology in the electoral process especially during the 2019 general elections came with challenges. The Commission made the disclosure in the review of the 2019 general elections, a report of the Commission’s retreats and stakeholder engagement, presented during a press briefing in Abuja on Friday. INEC also claimed in the review that the delay in investigation and transmission of case files to the Commission for further action by the police has hindered the successful prosecution of electoral offenders. Making recommendation on ICT, SCRs, DDCMs, CVR and Internet services, the Commission noted: “The growing use of technology in the planning of elections became a feature in our elections ...
#EndSARS: Why Nigerian government didn’t shut down social media during protests – minister
File Photo Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, has said the Federal Government had the option of shutting down the social media space during the #EndSARS protests but chose not to tread the path. Dare, who spoke on Monday while featuring on Channels Television’s programme Sunrise Daily, said the government did that to allow freedom of expression. He said other countries had taken certain measures to exercise some level of restraint over the cyberspace but Nigeria has not done so. The minister, however, said the internet and the social media have tremendous benefits but “as a country, we must start to think of how to curtail fake news. There must be some level of responsibility and some level of punishment to those that create chaos out of mischief in our country.” He sai...
European Union backs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for WTO role
The European Union has endorsed former Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the next director-general of the World Trade Organisation, Bloomberg reported. The business news outlet cited anonymous officials familiar with the matter that all the 27 EU member countries agreed on Monday in Brussels to support Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala. Bloomberg also reported that the United States has decided to back Yoo Myung-hee, South Korea’s trade minister, for the role. The position has been fiercely contested amongst candidates of different countries since Roberto Azevedo resigned in August. Last month, Okonjo-Iweala and Myung-hee were selected as the last two candidates in the contest. The EU’s endorsement is seen as a significant boost for Okonjo-Iweala’s candidacy, with the final winner expected...
Google, UNWTO partner to boost tourism in Nigeria, others
The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and Google on Wednesday hosted the first UNWTO & Google Tourism Acceleration Program which focused on insights from Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. The programme was put together ahead of World Tourism Day, Google said in a statement. The organisations said they partnered to create and host an online Acceleration Program for UNWTO member states’ tourism ministers, top travel associations and tourism boards. The initiative is put together to further develop innovation and digital transformation skills across the Africa and beyond. The COVID-19 crisis has disproportionately affected tourism, a sector that accounts for millions of jobs around the globe, a statement by Google said Wednesday. “While no one can say with certainty when th...
Youths should be drivers of innovation, creativity for a better Nigeria – don
Prof. Isaac Adeyemi, the former Vice Chancellor, Bells University of Technology, Ogun, has charged Nigerian youths to harnessy their knowledge via the internet to be drivers of innovation and creativity for a better Nigeria. Adeyemi gave the charge at the Mentoring and Capacity Building Summit of Shining Star Initiative International (SSII), an NGO, in Ibadan on Sunday. According to him, the outbreak of COVID-19 is a game changer; it has changed everything and as such one should think of post COVID-19 activities and actions that will enable one to stay afloat. “The youths are the most vulnerable to the post COVID-19 events, including the educational system. “To position themselves for a successful career, the youths being exposed to technology should take the initiative to see to it that t...
NCC: Telcos to roll over subscriber’s unused data
Fix Africa News Magazine The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has instructed telecommunication companies to henceforth roll over subscriber’s unused data to subsequent data subscription. In a statement on Thursday by the NCC spokesperson, Ikechukwu Adinde, said the agency reached the conclusion during its bi-annual meeting with Senior Executives of telecommunication companies on complaints management. The meeting which held virtually focused on consumer relations and complaint management processes. Adinde disclosed that the NCC and the telecom service providers agreed that the compensation policy should be revisited and complied with always to ensure full compliance with the new Complaint Categories and Service Level Agreement (CC/SLA) consented to by the NCC and the service provide...
Internet celebrity Mompha files N5 million suit against EFCC over ‘unlawful arrest, detention’
An Internet personality, Ismaila Mustapha, popularly called Mompha, on Tuesday filed a suit seeking to compel the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to pay him N5 million as damages for alleged unlawful re-arrest and detention. Newsmen report that Mustapha, who is facing a N32 billion fraud charge, was re-arrested on Friday, (Aug.14) by the EFCC. He was re-arrested when he went to the EFCC Office, Ikoyi, Lagos, to reclaim his five wristwatches, one Apple airpod, one iPhone, eight mobile phones and one pair of sunglasses seized from him by the anti-graft agency in 2019. The visit followed a ruling given by Justice Mohammed Liman on July 24, in which the judge ordered the release of the seized items on the grounds that the EFCC did not list them as exhibits in court. In the suit...
PDP: President Buhari government frustrating war against corruption
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Wednesday, accused the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government of deliberate hoarding of relevant information from Nigerians on the extent of corruption in his administration. This is even as the party said Nigerians have noted the blackmails, intimidation, and threats coming from government quarters, “in their feverish bid to frustrate whistleblowers and truncate on-going uncovering of widespread corruption in ministries, departments and agencies, under the All Progressives Congress, APC, administration.” Addressing a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Abuja, PDP spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, said one of such antics by this administration was Tuesday, July 28, 2020 press conference by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Moh...
Egypt female social media influencers get two-year jail terms
An Egyptian court Monday sentenced five female social media influencers to two years in jail each on charges of violating public morals, a judicial source said. The verdict against Haneen Hossam, Mowada al-Adham and three others came after they had posted footage on video-sharing app TikTok. “The Cairo economic court sentenced Hossam, Adham and three others to two years after they were convicted of violating society’s values,” the judicial source said. The ruling, which can be appealed, included a fine of 300,000 Egyptian pounds ($18,750) for each defendant, the source noted. SOCIAL DIVIDE Hossam was arrested in April after posting a three-minute clip telling her 1.3 million followers that girls could make money by working with her. In May, authorities arrested Adham who had posted satiric...
Netflix adds another 10 million subscribers
Getty Images Netflix is still growing as people continue to shelter in place around the country, but the company is now seeing the slowed subscriber growth executives predicted would arrive three months ago. On top of announcing that longtime chief content officer Ted Sarandos would join CEO Reed Hastings as co-CEO, the company made a few impressive announcements. Netflix added 10.2 million subscribers in its second quarter, beating the company’s own estimates that it made in its first quarter, which suggested it could add around 7.5 million. Netflix noted that it added 26 million paid new subscribers in the first two quarters of 2020 alone; in 2019, the company added 28 million subscribers in total. The company’s revenue grew 25 percent year over year, but missed its revenue goals for the...
