Friday, November 8

Danbatta Reiterates Commitment to the implementation of the 8-Point Agenda

…Interacts with Senior Media Executives and Specialized Reporters in Lagos

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, earlier today said that,

the Year 2017 is dedicated to the Nigerian Telecom Consumer. Following a management decision that compels NCC to seek to amplify the year’s activities towards ensuring that the consumer enjoys a customer experience that is enhanced and consistent in time and quality. 

The Executive secretary made this known during a meeting with senior media executives, ICT correspondents and other communication specialists at a special interactive session held at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja to share the successes of the implementation of the 8-Point Agenda and the attendant challenges of telecom regulation.

According to him, “As key stakeholders, the Consumers are therefore at the core of the 8-Point Agenda and the regulatory activities of the NCC. In this regard, the Consumer Affairs Bureau of the Commission has the mandate “To ensure the protection of the rights, privileges and interests of telecommunications consumers, including the physically challenged groups through adequate information dissemination programmes; as well as effective policies and strategies that promote effective and efficient telecoms service delivery.” 

“The Year of the Consumer will therefore focus on two key areas: improving the Quality of Service; Protecting and Educating the Consumer. To address the unsolicited calls received by consumers, the NCC has introduced the Do Not Disturb (DND) facility where consumers are urged to activate the facility by texting 2442. There is also the 622 number for the NCC customer toll free complaint line. NCC intends to increase the awareness level and equally the activation level of these two initiatives”. 

he noted that In its determination to ensure that the Consumer experiences improved Quality of Service  in the year and beyond, the Commission is implementing measures to ensure Drop Call Rate reduces and meets its industry benchmark of less than one percent (<1% DCR) target. The Commission is closely monitoring, tracking and reviewing the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of operators by the Network Integrity and Technical Standards Department. Greater efforts would also be put in place for compliance monitoring and enforcement of set standards. The Commission will also enlighten consumers about the environmental impact of telecom infrastructure.  

The meeting, Danbatta said, was an expression of Management’s effort to translate into concrete action the agendum on stakeholder collaboration and partnership because the media is central among NCC’s stakeholders, “a key player in the value chain through which Commission gets feedback and on whose expertise NCC can leverage to reach out to other stakeholders about its strides and initiatives”.

“Cumulatively, the telecom sector has contributed at least 15 Trillion naira to the economy and giving the economic challenges, it is gratifying to reveal that the telecom sector’s contribution to the GDP is over 9 percent”. Danbatta told the audience of a spectrum of media executives and other communication professionals which included specialized reporters of the telecommunication technology industry.

Danbatta also said NCC has reached out to State Governments as strategic stakeholders in order to address the challenges of telecom service provision in their respective jurisdictions, noting that NCC’s commitment to broadband penetration is irrevocable and will be sustained in full swing as a topmost agenda of Management of the Commission, just as the need to address the challenges of the telecom consumer and particularly to empower the consumer as a pre-eminent stakeholder. This explains the declaration of 2017 as the YEAR OF THE NIGERIAN TELECOM CONSUMER. Danbatta declared to the audience.

Prof. Danbatta said the recurring challenges of deteriorating quality of service will be addressed frontally because the CALL DROP RATE and the CALL SET UP RATE which should not be above 1 and 2 percent respectively, is yet to improve, “So we are escalating regulatory actions to stimulate a robust and better quality of service”.

The Executive Vice Chairman said the challenge Etisalat faces with respect to the loan it took from a consortium of banks is already being addressed. “Meetings are ongoing to have a restructure of the loan to ensure there is no disruption of Etisalat’s telecom operations. The Management of the Commission has also secured a priority window for Mobile Network Operators to have access to FOREX to service their operations”.

On the Ransomeware, “WannaCry” Virus which has attacked ICT networks in over 100 countries, Professor Danbatta said the Office of the National Security Adviser has set up a fortress to protect national networks and the NCC, NITDA and other partners have also instituted processes as a second layer of fortification to contain the Virus. Danbatta appealed to the general public to check NCC website and follow the Commission on its social media platforms for details on the actions that needs to be taken to prevent the viral assault on computers and other devices.

Responding to an intervention by a journalist in respect of the hoopla about radiation from telecom masts, the EVC said series of research from the World Health Organization (WHO) show no evidence that base stations produce radiation significant enough to harm human health.

The Special Media Interaction Programme is part of the Commission’s continuous efforts to engaging stakeholders in a discourse about the strides, emerging trends and challenges in the telecoms sector.

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