Business
By Anayo Ezugwu
THE Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has assured telecoms consumers that it will mitigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on service delivery by the network operators. The commission disclosed that it has taken critical steps in conjunction with the ministry of communication and digital economy to sustain the quality of telecom services.
Speaking at the first Virtual Telecom Consumer Parliament in Abuja, Professor Umar Danbatta, executive vice-chairman, NCC, explained that so far the commission has developed e-platforms where all licensing requests, consumer complaints and base transceiver station, BTS, investigation requests are channeled. He said the commission had also provided designated e-mail addresses to be used for such requests throughout the pandemic period.
According to Danbatta, the commission has approved and encouraged resource sharing among network operators. These shared resources include fibre optics cables and ancillary resources and that the aim is to ensure that there is no destruction to service provision in the event of fibre cut and related incidence.
“The Commission also secured Right of Passage, RoP, for all telecommunications officials and staff for easy movement during the lockdown and movement restriction in order to be able to service their base stations and keep them active to provide services for telecom consumers, who increasingly rely on their networks to work from home. In the same vein, the Commission also secured Right of Passage for suppliers that are involved in supplies of fuels, food and other essential services to telecom operators during total lockdown.
“With the intervention of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, state governors are now aligning their Right of Way charges to N145 as approved by the Federal Executive Council, FEC, reducing below N145 per linear of fibre laid by the operators in their states. Other state governors pegged their RoW charges below the N145 set by the FEC, while some state governors have totally waived RoW charges in their states.
“All these are aimed at encouraging network operators to deploy telecoms/broadband infrastructure faster in their states with a view to deepening digital access. As Covid-19 evolves, a new world order where more activities are conducted online and robust broadband access is central is emerging. In effect, most of the state governors have appreciated the centrality of robust broadband infrastructure as work-from-home measures by government persists.
“The Commission is hopeful that with the reduction in RoW, which will automatically result in reduction in capital expenditure, CAPEX by the network operators, telecom companies will sooner or later reciprocate the gesture by making their services in particular, data services more affordable to Nigerians.
“You would recall that one of the issues presented to the Honourable Minister when he assumed office is the need to strengthen telecom infrastructure protection. The Honourable Minister acted on this issue speedily by obtaining presidential approval directing Security Agencies to protect ICT and telecom facilities as critical national assets. It is pleasing that this action helped to safeguard telecom infrastructure for the greater role telecom has to play with the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
According to him, the ministry of communication and digital economy has left no stone unturned towards ensuring that telecom service providers provide good quality service despite the COVID-19 pandemic. He noted that it is equally important that network operators improve the quality of experience of the consumers, particularly as the nation try to navigate the disruptions caused by the pandemic.
– Aug. 24, 2020 @ 14:55 GMT |
Tags: NCC to mitigate impact of COVID-19 on network operators
