A closer look at the Zero Rated Access Initiative, by Okoh Aihe
The NCC programme wasn’t part of my schedule last week but the insistence of a young employee drew me to the Hilton, venue of the programme, and I left very appreciative that I found my way there. Sometimes, you need to clear your schedule to do certain things. This was one of them. As I […]
A little alert before another 5G auction in December
By Okoh Aihe NIGERIA is in dire straits. She needs money for daily runs and is bungling on the edge of extreme desperation. Desperation can lead to selling of metal scraps for survival or even selling off national assets, as proposed in the 2023 Budget, what in the case of an individual, is pawning, that […]
Telecoms: Regulatory lawmaking as a distractive pastime
By Okoh Aihe THE other day some idle lawmakers went to the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, on a single mission: to intimate the head that they have put in motion the process of merging some parastatals under the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. The parastatals include: the NCC, National Information Development Agency, NITDA; Galaxy […]
Behold Matawalle, the broadcast regulator from Zamfara
By Okoh Aihe A NEW broadcast regulator emerged from Zamfara State over the weekend, shutting down some broadcast outfits, including Federal Government stations, in a most brazen regulatory breach. For covering the political activities of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, instead of focusing on the several headaches of the state, perhaps, six stations found […]
For Amadi, a tech testimonial
By Okoh Aihe I HAVE a lot of respect for one of my young friends, and he would not understand why. Not because he gave me a call on Sunday night. Really, that call came with some balm that my spirit needed. At this particular time in our nation, there are so many things to trouble […]
Recommended: Sleepless months ahead for the NBC
By Okoh Aihe Today, a new political journey into the future begins for this country. But let’s do a recall. It may not be total. My friend once told me a story, long ago, which still makes my heart bleed. In one of those satanic periods after the elections in Nigeria, there was conflagration up North, […]
For telecoms, the curse of the low hanging fruits
By Okoh Aihe They came on the wings of hope. Was it building castles in the air? Oh, the commonality of cliché! Nigeria will be good again. Life will be worth celebrating. Life will be safe. Food will be available. The dollar would return to the pre-1999 value. They would put an end to fuel […]
A government and a regulator in difficult placement
By Okoh Aihe A government should be concerned about demonstrable proof of performance, what the political savvy would call the dividends of democracy, for it to earn sustainability into the future. But where there are evidential reasons making performance impossible, government should, at least, maintain structures inherited. This government does not enjoy this credit at […]
MTN leads the way to a 5G world
By Okoh Aihe THE 5G technology is a big pie, a really big pie. Every country in the world wants to have a hand in it, especially those who have gone beyond the scramble for the daily grind of life. Some are front runners, doing their stuff on the fast lane. A whole lot are […]
For broadcasting, it’s the fire next time
By Okoh Aihe THERE was a rash of contradictory responses last week, when the broadcast regulator, the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, in a moment of regulatory frenzy, directed 52 broadcast operators to shut down operations and return their licenses within 24 hours if they couldn’t settle their debt of N2.6bn collectively owed the Commission as […]
Airtel gives digital nod to the African child
By Okoh Aihe HAVING been very fortunate at a point in life to be a pioneer staff in birthing the Research and Development Department of a major parastatal, with a brief to work closely with tertiary institutions and fund their research works that could foster major developments and innovation in the tech sector, I saw […]
