Google’s free Wi-Fi offer could be illegal, says NCC

February 26, 2019
236 Views

The nation’s telecom regulatory body, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has said Google’s seeming generous offer of free Wi-Fi in the country could be illegal and obscured by conditions that do not grant the commission supervisory rights.

This is contained in a letter from NCC to the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) under the Office of the Vice President signed on behalf of NCC’s executive vice chairman, Prof. Umar Danbatta by the executive commissioner (stakeholder management), Mr. Sunday Dare.

Recall that Google is currently rolling out the ‘free’ Wi-Fi service in Lagos and Abuja with plans to expand to other locations in the country, a development that has caused great concerns in the industry because of the threat to the investment made by existing telecom operators and privacy issues occasioned by the internet giant’s mode of operation.

The letter reported to the Office of the Vice President (PEBEC) that “Google is operating in Nigeria without being licensed by the commission with the implications that it does not pay applicable fees, levies and taxes that are paid by other players in the telecommunication sector. “

There are several other irregularities in the structure under which Google presently provides its free public Wi-Fi for which the commission requested it to provide information that will clarify certain issues that have cropped up in the course of trying to streamline its usage of short message service (SMS) for user authentication.

“Google has till date failed to provide the requested information, which has stalled efforts to resolve the issues.” Other shortcomings the commission reported to PEBEC included Google’s failure to pay its Nigerian partners that it had presented as licensees of NCC and dealing with companies illegally providing SMS services. Internationally, Google has come under scrutiny over privacy issues and the way it handles the user data collected through its Android mobile operating system, an array of applications and more recently its ‘free’ Wi-Fi.

You may be interested

AFCON 2025Q: New Boy Osho, Iheanacho, Start For Super Eagles Vs Benin Republic
Sports
Sports

AFCON 2025Q: New Boy Osho, Iheanacho, Start For Super Eagles Vs Benin Republic

Webby - November 14, 2024

The Super Eagles will line-up in a 3-4-3 formation in tonight’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying tie against Benin…

My Goal Was To Achieve Success With Ten Hag At Man United –De Ligt
Sports
Sports

My Goal Was To Achieve Success With Ten Hag At Man United –De Ligt

Webby - November 14, 2024

Netherlands international Matthijs de Ligt has suggested Erik ten Hag didn’t get the breaks he needed to keep his job…

I Want To Take My Game To New Level –Lookman
Sports
Sports

I Want To Take My Game To New Level –Lookman

Webby - November 13, 2024

Super Eagles winger Ademola Lookman has reiterated his commitment to take his game to the next level.The Nigerian international, who…

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.