Telecommunications in Nigeria
[5] The largest broadcasting companies are the government-owned Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN)[11] and the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).
For example, in January 2012 some media figures alleged the NBC warned radio stations not to broadcast stories about fuel subsidy protests.
[25] Libel is a civil offense and requires defendants to prove the truth of opinion or value judgment contained in news reports or commentaries, or pay penalties.
The NBC's 2004 prohibition of live broadcasts of foreign news and programs remains in force, but does not apply to international cable or satellite services.
On numerous occasions in the past, especially, during military regime, security forces and police have arrested and detained journalists who criticized the government.
With the expiration of the exclusivity period of the main GSM network providers, Nigeria's telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), introduced the Unified Licensing Regime.
It was hoped that telecoms with unified licences would be able to provide fixed and mobile telephony and Internet access as well as any other communications service they choose to offer.
[30] In 2015 the NTC fined MTN Nigeria a record $5.2 billion for issuing 5.2 million unregistered and pre-registered subscriber Identification Module Cards (SIMs).
[31] After a decade of failed privatization attempts, the incumbent national telecom NITEL and its mobile arm have been sold to NATCOM and now rebranded as NTEL.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), this growth was driven by increased mobile phone penetration, higher internet usage, and the rollout of 4G and 5G networks.
[32][33] Calling code: +234[23] International call prefix: 009[34] Connected lines: Active lines: Installed capacity: Teledensity: Satellite earth stations: 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) (2010);[23] Submarine cables: Nigeria is one of the larger telecom markets in Africa subject to sporadic access to electricity.
The operators deploy fiber optic cable in six geopolitical zones and Lagos and invest in base stations to deplete network congestion.
Although the constitution and law provide for freedom of speech, including for members of the press, the government sometimes restricts these rights in practice.
Libel is a civil offense and requires defendants to prove the truth of opinion or value judgment contained in news reports or commentaries.
Militant groups such as Boko Haram threaten, attack, and kill journalists in connection with their reporting of the sect's activities.
[48] On 4 June 2021, the Minister of Information and Culture announced that the federal government would "suspend" all operations of Twitter in the country for performing actions that "[undermine] Nigeria’s corporate existence", and that the federal government would order the National Broadcasting Commission to "immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations" in the country.
This came after Twitter deleted posts by and suspended the account of President Muhammadu Buhari for violating its abuse policy, for making threats against the separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra which had invoked the Nigerian Civil War as a theme.
[52][53] On 13 January 2022, Nigerian government revoked the ban on Twitter after the company agreed to set up a subsidiary in Nigeria for judicial compliance.
