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Wednesday, November 02, 2011

QoS: NGOs supports NCC over sanction


Two Non-governmental Organisations, namely the Africa Telecom Development Initiative (ATDI) and Africa Telecom Consumers Assembly (ATCA) have drummed support for the regulator’s planned sanctioning of mobile operators in the country by end of this November if they refuse to improve the quality of service on their networks.

ITRealms Online recalls that last weekend, telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had issued a directive to the trio of Globacom, Airtel and MTN to enhance the quality of service on their respective networks based on the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) on or before the end of November, otherwise risk being sanctioned.

The proposed sanction by NCC include putting a stop on adding new subscribers until further notice while defiant may pay N1m per new subscriber.

The two NGO in a joint press statement made available to ITRealms Online and signed by their secretaries, Messrs Ken Ugbechie and Alfred Katung, both drummed support the regulator, the NCC.

The group also condemned what they described as “scant regard for the sensitivities of telecom consumers in the country.”

Equally, the group expressed their dissatisfaction with the quality of service being offered by the service providers in a country where they have individually and collectively made the most profit on the African market.

“The Nigerian market is by far the largest telecom market in Africa and therefore ought to be treated with some degree of respect. Unfortunately, some of these service providers have simply refused to accord the millions of consumers in the country some respect. It is the people that make the networks, we expect operators to realise this and do everything they can to give the over 90 million telecom consumers real value for their money”, ATDI said.

In lending support to NCC, the pan-African organisations urged the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr Eugene Juwah, not to relent in his quest to bequeath to consumers a legacy of good quality of service.

They noted that while the service providers may be excused for putting up a poor show in qualitative service delivery in the last decade of the telecom revolution because of the overriding necessity to grow the network, such excuse is no longer tenable.

Both organisations acknowledged that it made good economic sense in allowing the networks to take proper footing before exerting pressure on them, but warned that such magnanimity shown by the regulator should not be interpreted as a form of weakness.

Remmy Nweke

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