Network expansion hits 70% as telcos deploys additional 8,526 sites – NCC

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has disclosed that network operators have deployed 8,526 of the 12,179 additional coverage and capacity sites intended to improve network coverage, capacity and quality of service across the country.

The Commission said the figure represents about 70 per cent of operators’ commitments and marks significant progress from the approximately 5,000 sites reported at the previous NCC Governing Board meeting.

It made the disclosure in a communiqué issued by the Office of the Commission’s Secretary at the end of the Board’s 110th meeting, held on September 9, 2026.

Despite the programme, the Board raised concerns about a sharp rise in network disruptions recorded in June, attributing some incidents to fibre cuts.

It emphasised that the expansion of telecommunications infrastructure must be matched by stronger protection of critical communications facilities, and called for sustained investment in network resilience and service reliability.

The Board also reviewed the NCC’s technology-driven efforts to strengthen digital trust and security, noting that the Device Management System (DMS) is now live.

“The DMS will improve compliance with type-approval requirements, help prevent the circulation of non-compliant devices and support efforts to combat mobile device theft by enabling reported stolen phones to be blocked across Nigerian networks,” the board said.

It further disclosed that the Telecommunications Identity Risk Management System (TIRMS) is scheduled to go live in October 2026.

The system is expected to strengthen the governance of telecommunications identities, including mobile numbers, while reducing risks associated with their misuse, reassignment and recycling.

The Board stressed that the deployment of both systems must comply with applicable legal, privacy and data protection requirements while protecting consumers and safeguarding the integrity of the telecommunications market.

The Board reviewed progress on the planned zero-rating of educational platforms and content aimed at improving digital inclusion and expanding access to learning resources.

It commended the Federal Ministry of Education and other stakeholders for their collaboration, noting that the initiative was scheduled for an official launch on September 10, with the go-live date set for October 1, 2026.

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Tinubu’s intervention will reverse save aviation sector’s designation – Onyema

By Suleiman Idris

Lagos

Chairman of Air Peace, Dr Allen Onyema, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s to quickly intervene and ensure the recent designation of Nigeria as the worst place in the world to establish airline business by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is reversed.

Onyema further added that to do this, the President would need to meet with the country’s airline operators.

Dr Allen noted that the financial crisis bedeviling the airlines over the 5% Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) will also be resolved by the intervention of the President whom he described as a listening leader and a great lover of the aviation sector.

According to him, the Nigeria leader has been kept in the dark regarding the circumstances that led to the current impasses.

The Air Peace Chairman, in his Keynote speech at the 30th annual conference of the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) held in Lagos with the theme: “Towards a Sustainable Aviation Industry: Balancing Government Revenue Demands with Sector Growth, ` explained that what will put to an end the high mortality rate of Nigerian operators is when there is amicable tax and charges system that protects the airlines, aviation agencies and the traveling public in a win-win situation.

He noted that the current system where airlines pay 5% of the cost of each flight ticket to the agencies of government is fiscally constricting the operators and advocated that the government should introduce a fixed flat rate on the ticket to make it easy for the airlines to pay and also save them from going under.

Onyema said that this is why the airlines yearn for the intervention of President Tinubu who is a listening President and recalled how the President waived 4% Free on Board (FOB) levy, a statutory charge introduced by the Nigeria Customs Service, for the airlines.

The Vice President of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), said that when the matter came to President Tinubu, he immediately exempted the airlines from payment of the levy within 24 hours.

He said, “One thing I must say is that I’m certain any day President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sees us, if they allow us to see him, because I know he will not mind to meet with us, that will be the day a new revolution in the airline industry in this country will occur because Mr. President abhors anything capable of affecting indigenous businesses that provide jobs for the people adversely.

“I remember when we complained to the Comptroller General of Customs, Mr. Adewale Adeniyi of the debilitating effects of the newly introduced 4% FOB customs duty on airlines.

He, Wale Adeniyi, took it up with the presidency the same day. I was there in the Presidential Villa with the Customs boss, a fantastic man. This President acted swiftly and waived it for airlines within hours of being made to understand the would-be effects of such a charge on the viability of indigenous Nigerian airlines.”