The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has rewarded Nasarawa State with a free wireless internet cloud in recognition of the State’s recent passage of the Right-of-Way Regulation 2023. Governor Abdullahi Sule who disclosed this Monday when presiding over an emergency executive council meeting at the Government House, Lafia, said the free wireless internet cloud is to be installed in one of the state-owned tertiary institutions. Recall that the Nassarawa State Right-of-Way Regulation 2023, which came into effect on the 29th of December, 2023, waives Right-of-Way (RoW) charges for the installation, placing, laying, and maintenance of telecommunication network facilities in the state.…
Author: DigitalTimesNG
A Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday declared null and void the provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code authorising the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to impose fines on broadcast stations for alleged breaches of the code. The court ruled that administrative and regulatory bodies could not exercise judicial powers. Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia while delivering judgment in a suit instituted by Media Rights Agenda (MRA) against the NBC following the commission’s imposition of fines of N5 million each on a television station and three pay-TV platforms in 2022 for allegedly undermining Nigeria’s national security by broadcasting documentaries on banditry in…
British energy giant, Shell is set to conclude nearly a century of operations in Nigerian onshore oil and gas after agreeing to sell its subsidiary there to a consortium of five mostly local companies for up to $2.4 billion. Shell pioneered Nigeria’s oil and gas business beginning in the 1930s but has struggled for years with hundreds of onshore oil spills as a result of theft, sabotage and operational issues that led to costly repairs and high-profile lawsuits. Since 2021, Shell has sought to sell its Nigerian oil and gas business but will remain active in Nigeria’s more lucrative and…
Researchers at Abu Dhabi’s Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) say they have developed technology that can imitate someone’s handwriting based on just a few paragraphs of written material. To accomplish that, the researchers used a transformer model, a neural network designed to learn context and meaning in sequential data, according to a report by Bloomberg. The team at MBZUAI, which calls itself the world’s first AI university, has been granted a patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office for the artificial intelligence system. The researchers have not yet released the feature, but it represents a step…
Vodafone and Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday (today) announced a new, far-reaching 10-year strategic partnership that leverages their respective strengths in offering scaled digital platforms to more than 300 million businesses, public sector organizations, and consumers across Europe and Africa. Through the partnership, the companies will collaborate to transform Vodafone’s customer experience using Microsoft’s generative AI; hyperscale Vodafone’s leading managed IoT connectivity platform; develop new digital and financial services for businesses, particularly SMEs across Europe and Africa; and overhaul its global data center cloud strategy. Vodafone will invest $1.5 billion over the next 10 years in cloud and customer-focused AI services…
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that Artificial intelligence will affect up to 40% of jobs worldwide. It added that this could rise to 60% of roles in advanced economies like the UK – but it is believed that, in half of these cases, AI will benefit the workforce. The IMF warned in a new report, that AI’s consequences for society remain difficult to foresee, but the technology is likely to exacerbate income and wealth inequality. Developing economies are much less likely to “seize” AI’s advantages, fuelling a digital divide and increasing income disparity between countries. “The world is…
By Louis AVENANT Industry projections estimate the African telco sector will grow by $ 2,24 billion between 2020 and 2024, with longer-term growth expected to be powered by the rollout of high-speed 5G connectivity and a growing suite of complementary services, specifically in the financial services sector. In conversations with telco executives throughout East, West and Southern Africa over the past few weeks, a number of common challenges have emerged. Telcos are seeking to safeguard current revenue streams through improved downstream visibility, especially over their B2B partners. At the same time, a slew of new customer-facing services and innovations hold…
Google has laid off hundreds of employees working on its hardware, voice assistance and engineering teams as part of cost-cutting measures, according to a report by ABC News. The cuts come as Google looks towards “responsibly investing in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead,” the company said in a statement. “Some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organizational changes, which include some role eliminations globally,” it said. Google earlier said it was eliminating a few hundred roles, with most of the impact on its augmented reality hardware team. The cuts follow pledges by executives of…
TECNO is unleashing an exciting promo for its users and customers across Nigeria to herald a thrilling start to the year. TECNO said in a statement that this promo promises many fantastic prizes, including cashback, fabulous gifts, and the coveted SPARK 20 phones throughout January 2024. The mobile phone brand is offering its customers and fans an opportunity to win cashback, gifts, and SPARK 20 phones in a promo that will run throughout January 2024. With a promise to be one of the most thrilling promotions of the year, TECNO is running this promotion in partnership with PalmPay, Nigeria’s leading…
Parallel Wireless, a player in Open RAN technology, has partnered with Hotspot Network Ltd, a Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) provider, to extend coverage to previously unconnected rural sites throughout Nigeria. This collaboration which aims to connect residents of rural regions to essential services, such as health, education, and financial services, will ultimately improve their quality of life. Hotspot Network Ltd offers its services to leading mobile networks in Nigeria, providing a comprehensive portfolio of products and services through collaboration with a network of global partners, making them a single point of contact for all rural connectivity and telecommunication needs. The technology gap…