The Wordsmith Blog™

Hello,  it's time to watch your backs (well, that's if you can). See main article after the cut: The Nigerian Communications Commission is considering a framework for the regulation of over-the-top services in the Nigerian telecoms market.Over-the-top services, otherwise known as OTT, are services carried over the networks, delivering value to customers, but without any carrier service provider being involved in planning, selling, provisioning, or servicing them.OTT services are offered through Internet communication.In Nigeria, the most common OTT services are WhatsApp messenger, BlackBerry Messenger, Facebook, and Skype which are classified under social media applications.In other words, telecom operators such as MTN, Etisalat, Glo, and Airtel lack direct control or influence over WhatsApp messenger, BBM, Facebook or Skype.Internet telephony and live streaming are also part of OTTservices.The growth of OTT services is encouraged by the access to 3G and 4G networks which offer

Nigeria has been ranked as 136 on the list of world's least corrupt countries in the year 2015.According to Transparency International's corruption perceptions index, Nigeria's rating is a far cry from the top ten in the world as is being speculated in some quarters.Denmark, the rating revealed, tops the perceptions index for the second consecutive year but more countries are improving than worsening even as the United States and United Kingdom reached their highest rankings ever.The list released on Wednesday, January, 2016, showed that Denmark scored 91 points out of a possible 100 while North Korea and Somalia remainedat the bottom with unchanged scores of 8.Nigeria's rating is expected to be on the rise following the recent corruption bedeviling the $2.1 billion arms deal scandal for which Sambo Dasuki, former National Security Adviser (NSA); Olisa Metuh national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), among other top dogs in thecountry are prese