Nigeria loses $8.55bn

The House of Representatives chairman on Information and National Orientation, Dino Melaye, says the executive vice-chairman of the Nigerian Communication Commissions (NCC) Ernest Ndukwe is behind a revenue loss totalling $8.55 billion (R87.2 billion), reports IT News Africa.

This comes ahead of a motion on the poor services of GSM in the country. Melaye says the money formed the five-year tax waiver granted to the first two service providers, MTN and Econet (now Zain) before they began operations in Nigeria.

He said each of the two companies ought to have paid $285 million (R2.9 billion) per year as licensing fees throughout the five years, but this was waived by the NCC.

The Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) is executing its integrated next-generation network telecom expansion project, says Walta Info.

The country's sole mobile network operator is currently executing 11 integrated next-generation network telecoms expansion projects at a cost of around $1.8 billion (R18.3 billion).

It is also expected to enhance the existing mobile lines to 15 million and push the mobile service coverage to 64%, while the broadband Internet service, which is only limited to 16 areas, will be expanded to 500 areas.

Twenty-six people have been arrested for allegedly forging MTN airtimes cards. The suspects are being detained in various detentions in Kigali, Rwand,a as investigations continue, states All Africa.

A source from MTN says the suspects had been trailed for months before they were apprehended. According to the source, after the clients have loaded airtime, the suspects, together with their accomplices, pick the used cards and deliver them to their contacts in Uganda where the scam is hatched.

"In Uganda, the suspects would re-seal the used airtime cards and then resend them to Kigali to be distributed," the source explained. “Most of the suspects arrested are the ringleaders. They are helping us to get to the root cause of the problem and how the entire process goes," the source added.