ALTON: Harmonised shortcodes to run for one year before deactivation of codes - ITREALMS

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The Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has revealed that just commenced harmonisation of short codes across all networks would last for a year, reports ITREALMS.

ALTON also said the harmonisation is in pursuant to a regulatory modernisation initiative by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Breaking: Pantami orders deactivation of automatic voice mails across networks - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Ali Isa Pantami, has ordered the deactivation of Automatic Vioice Mails (AVM) across all Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in the country, reports ITREALMS.

He alleged that AVM has been the latest trend of financial exploitation by mobile operators and based on recent reports reaching the office, the practice has gained momentum.

The Voicemail service should be accessed at the discretion of the subscriber and not by default. The Honourable Minister finds it worrisome and totally unacceptable, that telecoms subscribers incur financial charges, for a service they are compelled to use by default. Voicemail is not a popular service among mobile phone users in Nigeria, coupled with the language challenge among rural dwellers, who mostly do not understand the language deployed by these networks.

It is apparent, that the recent clampdown on the exploitative activities of some Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in the country, has beamed the searchlight on the sector properly, and some unpatriotic elements in the system are devising subtle, ingenious methods of defrauding Nigerians. The Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy under the current leadership of Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), will neither overlook any acts, regardless of how subtle, that undermine the Anti Corruption Crusade of President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, nor condone any attempts to defraud Nigerians and indeed, all subscribers.

In the light of this, Dr Pantami has issued a broad policy directive to the sector regulator Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), to immediately ensure that issues regarding automatic voicemails are addressed on all existing phone lines and the subscribers, given the option of accessing the service via an activation code.

It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the rights of consumers are protected, while providing a conducive business environment for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), in line with global best practice.

Chuks Egbuna/Editor

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For standards sake, Uber introduces driver deactivation policy in Africa

ITRealms:

In effort to keep high standards, Uber has introduced driver deactivation policy across the continent of Africa, reports ITRealms.

Uber Communications officer for Africa, Samantha Allenberg, confirmed this to ITRealms noted that the  higher the quality of the service, the more riders want to take trips, which in turn means more opportunities for drivers to earn money.

The goal of Uber, Allenberg said, is to provide reliable, affordable and safe transportation, which could only happen if there is trust on all sides; where riders feel safe with their driver and where drivers feel safe transporting their passengers.

Pointing out that it was easy to work with the first handful of drivers when Uber first launched in South Africa in 2013, but as we have launched more cities and grown in popularity across Africa, hence it is important that every driver using Uber app understands the processes and communicates in a consistent and transparent manner.

ITRealms gathered that sometimes Uber has to restrict a driver’s access to the app, but when that happens, even for a short period of time, it affects their earnings, therefore the company finds it extreme important to make its policy clearer.

Further ITRealms  reports that the Driver Deactivation Policy was designed with the best interests of drivers and riders in mind. According to Allenberg, it covers, among other items, issues that relate to quality, fraud, safety and discrimination.

On quality, Uber explained that the higher the quality of the service, the more riders want to take trips, which in turn means more opportunities for drivers to earn money. After every trip, riders and drivers rate each other with a star rating out of five - if that score is consistently low there is a problem. We also consider how regularly drivers cancel trips after accepting a booking as this leads to a poor experience for riders.

Uber decried fraud, describing it as bad for any business, so to keep riders coming back and to keep drivers driving, it’s important that services are fair and honest. That includes drivers understanding it is unacceptable to intentionally increase the time or distance of a trip.

Safety, Uber reiterated on both riders and drivers, includes respecting each other's privacy - so not contacting each other except through the Uber app - and obeying the laws of the road.

Uber also warned it will not tolerate discrimination of any sort, against riders or drivers, including on race, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, sex, marital status, gender identity or age.

The transport app company pointed out that on the side of the driver, this also includes respecting the transportation of people with disabilities, including service animals.

“By maintaining high standards, riders will return time after time and drivers will keep as busy as they want. The Driver Deactivation Policy helps to ensure the best possible experience for everyone,” Uber declared in a press statement made available to ITRealms.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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SIM card deactivation, not total withdrawal - NCC

ITRealms:

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has reacted to a spate of complaints following the deactivation of unregistered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards by operators, as directed recently by the regulator, reports ITRealms.

NCC also said that only those subscribers who registered their SIM cards properly will have them reactivated.

NCC Director, Public Affairs, Mr. Tony Ojobo made this clarification, saying that the Commission has been saturated with inquiries, some of which alluded to the impression that their SIM cards have been withdrawn permanently. 

“This is not the situation,” he declared, adding that “the deactivation exercise and decision was a result of a meeting with the office of National Security Adviser (NSA), the Department of State Service (DSS), the NCC and operators “after which the operators were given one-week to deactivate those unregistered and improperly registered SIM cards.”

The operators were specifically told that those subscribers whose lines were not registered and have not made any effort to register them should be communicated before deactivation.

“So the deactivation of these SIM cards is in line with that meeting. Subscribers who fail to register properly will have their lines deactivated but those who comply will have them reactivated,”Ojobo said.

“Proper registration means a subscriber’s facial pictures properly captured, biometrics/finger prints, valid means of identification, address, among others,” he explained.

Further, Ojobo said that these are part of the security measures to check incessant cases of crimes with the use of the telephone.

“People hide under anonymity to commit crimes because their lines are not registered, but all that has to change as the network operators have been told what to do,” he emphasized.

ITRealms reports that the ultimatum to deactivate unregistered SIM card expired on Tuesday this week.

The operators, he said, were told among others to ensure compliance of all registration with the Data Dictionary, Technical Specifications on Finger prints and facial images and the business rules agreed by all stakeholder.

ITRealms +Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) +ITRealms DSA  
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Deactivated SIM Card:: NATCOMS urges members to take advantage of NCC new window

Following the plea of the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS) and Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), the industry regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) may have granted deactivated subscribers over the non-registration of their SIM cards another window to make amend.

This is coming as NATCOMS urged subscribers affected by the deactivation process to take advantage of this new window.

Speaking to ITRealms, Monday, NATCOMS president, Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo noted that the appeals by both NATCOMS and ALTON to NCC and Ministry of Communication Technology must have paved the way to the latest ground of NCC.

Ogunbanjo also pointed out that on Saturday, July 6, 2013, he was on NTA Network Live Interview with Tony Ojobo of NCC a new SIM Card Registration window for subscribers opened for those affected by deactivation of their SIM cards.

According to him, the NCC latest window is now the only opportunity for disconnected subscribers in Nigeria to have their SIM Cards registered re-activation.

Subscribers whose’ SIM Cards have been deactivated, he said, are advised to go to the nearest Customer Care Centre of their network operator for registration and subsequent re-activation.

Already, he emphasized, Communications Service Providers (CSP’s) are encouraging disconnected subscribers to come and register their SIM Cards and get between N5,000 and N10,000 as re-activation bonus for on-net calls.

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