{"id":118111,"date":"2025-04-29T22:48:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T21:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=118111"},"modified":"2025-04-29T22:48:57","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T21:48:57","slug":"ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/","title":{"rendered":"NCC Begins Review of 2003 Communications Act"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Daniel Adaji<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has launched a formal process to review the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) of 2003, citing its outdated provisions in light of rapid technological advancements and Nigeria\u2019s digital ambitions.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The NCC\u2019s Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Dr. Aminu Maida made this disclosure on Tuesday during a stakeholder colloquium held in Lagos.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cThe reality of 2025 demands we reimagine Nigeria\u2019s digital future. A revised Communications Act must anticipate opportunities, not merely respond to challenges,\u201d Maida said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The review, according to Maida, is necessary to bring the law in line with emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, and quantum computing. These innovations, he said, are reshaping global communications and exposing gaps in Nigeria\u2019s current legal framework.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Despite its age, the NCA has been credited with major reforms in Nigeria\u2019s telecom space.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cThe existing Act dismantled monopolies and opened the sector to competition,\u201d Maida said, noting that mobile subscriptions in Nigeria grew from under 300,000 in 2001 to more than 150 million today.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He added that the sector now contributes around 14 per cent to the country\u2019s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), fueled by services like e-commerce, e-learning, and mobile banking.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>However, Maida pointed out that several challenges still hinder the sector\u2019s growth, including inadequate power supply, high Right of Way (RoW) fees, increasing operational costs, and poor broadband penetration in rural areas.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He called for legislative support to address these issues through a more robust and future-ready law.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The colloquium, themed \u201cThe Nigerian Communications Act 2003: 22 Years After \u2014 Challenges, Opportunities and Future Directions for a Digital Nigeria,\u201d drew key figures from government, industry, and civil society. Participants reviewed the Act\u2019s relevance and examined new regulatory needs.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Chairman of the House Committee on Communications, Peter Akpatason, emphasised the urgency of the review.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He pointed to the importance of regulating technologies like 5G and AI and closing the digital divide.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cWe must engage in meaningful dialogue that produces policies for an inclusive and resilient digital economy,\u201d Akpatason said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Also speaking at the event, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dr. Tajudeen Abbas\u2014represented by Deputy Whip Isiaka Ayokunle\u2014reaffirmed legislative backing for the reform process.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He highlighted recent laws such as the Cybercrime Act, Data Protection Act, and Startup Act, saying these are part of efforts to strengthen digital innovation and security in Nigeria.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Abbas warned that without timely regulatory updates, cybersecurity threats could erode the progress made in digital services and mobile financial transactions.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Maida praised the National Assembly for initiating the review and assured that the NCC would continue to work closely with lawmakers, industry players, and global partners.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He expressed confidence that the outcome of the colloquium would help shape a new legal regime aligned with Nigeria\u2019s ambition to become a globally competitive digital economy.<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Daniel Adaji The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has launched a formal process to review the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) of 2003, citing its outdated provisions in light of rapid technological&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":116352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>NCC Begins Review of 2003 Communications Act - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NCC Begins Review of 2003 Communications Act - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Daniel Adaji The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has launched a formal process to review the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) of 2003, citing its outdated provisions in light of rapid technological&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-29T21:48:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/NCC-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"372\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"headline\":\"NCC Begins Review of 2003 Communications Act\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-29T21:48:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/\"},\"wordCount\":473,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/NCC-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/\",\"name\":\"NCC Begins Review of 2003 Communications Act - Pointblank News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/NCC-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-29T21:48:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/NCC-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/NCC-1.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":372},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"NCC Begins Review of 2003 Communications Act\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\",\"name\":\"Pointblank News\",\"description\":\"Just the news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\",\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Our Reporter\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NCC Begins Review of 2003 Communications Act - Pointblank News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NCC Begins Review of 2003 Communications Act - Pointblank News","og_description":"Daniel Adaji The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has launched a formal process to review the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) of 2003, citing its outdated provisions in light of rapid technological&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/","og_site_name":"Pointblank News","article_published_time":"2025-04-29T21:48:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":372,"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/NCC-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Our Reporter","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Our Reporter","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/"},"author":{"name":"Our Reporter","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"headline":"NCC Begins Review of 2003 Communications Act","datePublished":"2025-04-29T21:48:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/"},"wordCount":473,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/NCC-1.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/","name":"NCC Begins Review of 2003 Communications Act - Pointblank News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/NCC-1.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-29T21:48:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/NCC-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/NCC-1.jpg","width":800,"height":372},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ncc-begins-review-of-2003-communications-act\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"NCC Begins Review of 2003 Communications Act"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/","name":"Pointblank News","description":"Just the news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c","name":"Our Reporter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Our Reporter"},"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118111"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118112,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118111\/revisions\/118112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}