Professor Umaru Danbatta, the new head of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has promised to step up efforts to tackle quality of service and other challenges affecting the West African country’s telecommunications industry.
Telecoms subscribers in Nigeria continue to complain about what they believe to be unsatisfactory levels of service from telecoms companies. Despite fines issued to operators under the tenure of former NCC head Dr. Eugene Juwah, subscribers remain indignant regarding services.
“The NCC was the only institution that profited from the fines; nothing was done to compensate the subscribers. Drop calls even appear to be on the increase, data services fluctuate and frustration remains the order of the day,” said Yinka Adeoye, a telecoms subscriber in Lagos.
Many subscribers also believe the commission could do more to ensure that the costs of telecoms services are reasonable and affordable.
“I remember reading somewhere that Ghana has the lowest cost of telecoms services in Africa, Nigeria, with its large subscriber base and market size, deserves cheaper telecoms services,” said Ojo Victoria, a subscriber living in Ife, southwest Nigeria.
There are also concerns over the high cost of data services in the country, especially for users of feature phones and Android devices.
The new NCC head is also tasked with the responsibility of ensuring the commission treats every operator equally and fairly, especially in the wake of a lawsuit filed by Etisalat accusing the regulator of bias in favour of MTN.
Prof Danbatta recently addressed NCC’s top management at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja and said he will rely on his experience to confront and overcome the challenges within Nigeria’s telecoms industry.
“I want to pledge that I will bring to bear my wealth of experience in tackling the issue of quality of service in order to meet the expectations of the public that we are servicing,” he said.
According to ITwebafrica, he added that he would focus on internationally acceptable ideals in telecom regulation as stipulated by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
“The concept of universal access is premised on three ‘A’s, as the hallmarks of universal access and they include availability of service, accessibility of Service, and affordability of service. Those will dictate at all times what we do, and I am sure those were the dictating parameters for improvement in the quality of service,” he added.
While the Professor acknowledged the many challenges impacting on the industry, he said they are not insurmountable.
”We will judiciously use the resources of the commission to ensure that we maintain this position in a manner that will enhance the image and prestige of the commission, as well as serve as a reminder to government of the important role that this agency can play in improving the GDP. This we can only do if all of us live up to our responsibilities as ambassadors of the commission, and in these I urge everybody’s cooperation to enable us accomplish this very important task for the country,” he said.
