NCC Threatens To Sanction VAS Operator Over SMS Fundraising

The Nigerian Communications Commission on Tuesday threatened to
sanction one of its licensed Value Added Service Operators,
TextNigeria Limited, for diverting a short code allotted to it for
political campaign without obtaining permission from the regulatory
agency.

TextNigeria Limited had been involved in handling the fundraising for
the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign through the use of
Short Message Service platform on GSM networks utilising a short code
allocated by NCC.

However, at a press conference addressed by three officials of NCC in
Abuja on Tuesday, NCC said the VAS operator obtained the short code
for Big Brother Nigeria/Africa in April 2013 and should have written
to the agency if it wanted to use the code for anything other than the
purpose for which it was obtained.

The regulatory agency said it was not wrong for any party to use the
SMS platform to raise fund for political campaign but added that due
process must be followed as the regulatory agency had insisted at all
times.

Head of Enforcement of the NCC, Mr. Idehen Efosa, said NCC would
follow the enforcement rules and sanction the TextNigeria Limited for
diverting the short code allocated to it without prior notice to the
agency.

A letter from Director, Technical Standards & Network Integrity at
NCC, Dr. B.M. Sani, dated April 16, 2013, urged the Managing Director
of TextNigeria Limited to ensure that the four short codes approved
for it were used in accordance with the provisions of the Nigerian
Communications Act, 2003 and the Guidelines on Short Code Operation in
Nigeria.

The letter, titled Allocation of Short Codes, read in part, "The
commission, having favourably considered your application, is pleased
to inform you that short codes 20353, 38350, 35350 and 34350 have been
allocated to your company for Samsung eWarranty, Sproxil
Authentication, Big Brother Nigeria/Africa and Shared Code Services
respectively.

"Please be informed that short code as well as all numbering resources
is finite, hence, are considered a national scarce resource. As such,
the commission expects that the short code will be put into active use
and in a manner that will not cause service disruption to the national
telephony network."

Director of Public Affairs at NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, stated that a
similar service had been approved for both President Goodluck Jonathan
and Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, prior to the general
elections of 2011 after their clients had obtained the necessary
approvals.
--PUNCH