Business
Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman, Nigeria Communications Commission, NCC, has dispelled as false, mischievous and deceitful insinuations in some quarters that telecommunication masts and towers are hazardous to humans.
Danbatta, who spoke at the NCC Special Day at the ongoing 28th Enugu International Trade Fair at the weekend, noted that any individual or community adducing such reasons to deny the right of way to the telecom companies, and prevent them from expanding services are inadvertently contributing to poor quality of services in the network.
“The commission still maintains that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has affirmed that no result of any such hazard has been established against base stations,” he said. Danbatta who was represented by the Head Public Relations of NCC, Mr. Reuben Muoka, said telecom providers still face the challenges of right of way, as well as issue of vandalisation of telecommunications equipment which he said contribute to poor service delivery.
He, however, stressed that the regulatory agency has put service providers on special notice about the commission’s current monitoring of user experience and where the provider continues to fail to improve services to the detriment of the consumers, the commission would apply appropriate regulatory actions and sanctions against such service provider. According to him, the commission had declared 2017 as a year dedicated to consumers issues in the telecommunication industry in Nigeria, adding that this is a complement to her traditional consumer parliament sessions, consumer outreach programmes and town hall meetings, all aimed at tackling issues that affect the consumer.
NCC expressed happiness that there has been continuous and positive improvement in the provision of services to the citizenry with internet penetration standing at about 90 Million subscribers in February 2017, while phone subscription stands at 154 million at the same period, thereby bringing the nation to more than 110 per cent teledensity. Earlier, the President of Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA), Ugo Chima, represented by the 2nd Vice President, Mr. Emeka Nwandu, stated that the role of NCC as a regulatory agency in the development of the telecommunication sector was worthy of note to ensure best practices, efficient and effective service delivery by operators in the sector. He said that the role of the agency has informed her decision to consistently use the Trade Fair platform for robust interface with her stakeholders in the telecom industry, which he said was very commendable.
— Apr 10, 2017 @ 11:30 GMT
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