• NCC, ALTON rally industry on new initiatives

The federal government has launched the National Digital Alphanumeric Postcode System, which assigns a precise digital address to every structure and building across the country.

Meant to replace the legacy six-digit numeric codes, the new initiative is driven by Geographic Information System (GIS) technology and significantly improves location pinpointing for emergency services, logistics, postal deliveries, financial inclusion, and urban planning.

Launched by the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, alongside the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), the Minister of Communications, Dr Bosun Tijani, said: “every Nigerian deserves to be found; every business deserves the chance to reach its customers, and every community deserves to be within reach of opportunity.”

The digital postcode launch comes as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), in collaboration with the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), yesterday also rolled out the Zero-Rated Data Access to Approved Educational Platforms and Content Initiative.

The programme supports the commission’s mandate to promote modern, universal, efficient, reliable, affordable, and accessible communications services across Nigeria.

Under the initiative’s Operator-Sponsored Model, eligible users will receive up to 100 megabytes of free daily data allowance to access designated educational platforms. This means that a learner receiving the full 100MB allowance would have access to about 700MB of educational data each week, roughly 3GB every month, and up to 36.5GB yearly

The initiative is designed to reduce data costs for digital learning, enabling eligible learners to use approved platforms for study, research, online courses, and other academic activities.

Speaking on the rollout, the NCC Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Dr Aminu Maida, said the initiative, which provides learners with free access to approved educational platforms, forms part of broader government efforts to equip Nigerians with digital skills, knowledge, and advance human capital development.

According to Maida, the programme aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s vision of building a $1 trillion economy, which depends significantly on investing in people through education, skills acquisition and access to learning opportunities.

On the postcode launch, Tijani noted on his official X page yesterday that Nigeria loses an estimated N50 billion to N80 billion yearly through missed and failed deliveries caused by poor addressing.

However, he stressed that the problem goes beyond deliveries, affecting emergency services, security operations, financial services, businesses and government planning.

Meanwhile, ALTON Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, said the telecommunications and wider technology industry has demonstrated significant commitment to the Zero-Rated Access initiative through financial and in-kind contributions amounting to almost N200 billion for the initial pilot involving 5,000 learners.

According to Adebayo, the aggregate value reflects the daily 100MB connectivity allocation, network resources, devices, terminals, and other contributions from industry stakeholders, which he said demonstrates the industry’s commitment to supporting the Federal Government’s education and digital inclusion agenda.