GSM operators set up Financial Inclusion Committee - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

Nigeria's Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications operators, namely Glo, 9Mobile, Airtel, MTN Nigeria, and Ntel, had inaugurated the Telecommunications Financial Inclusion Committee, reports ITREALMS.

The committee, ITREALMS gathered is coming on the heels of ALTON lays out the roadmap for deepening financial inclusion and financial literacy across Nigeria.

ITREALMS also gathered that the committee slated to meet fortnightly over the coming months to deliver on its mandate, includes ALTON chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, Oladokun Oye (Airtel), Samuel Akinsola (Ntel), Chinedu Anochirionye (Ntel), Ismaila Suhailu (Ntel), Oluwaseun Omotosho (EMTS/9mobile), Chidozie Arinze (EMTS/9mobile), Johnson Oyewo (MTN Nigeria), Jane Amadi (MTN Nigeria), Esaie Diei (Globacom), Oluwatosin Cole (Globacom), and Gbolahan Awonuga (ALTON Secretariat).

Arising from its recent meeting, the GSM operators articulated their commitment to deepening financial inclusion and providing Nigerians with access to a range of affordable financial services.

Also at the inauguration, the committee, ITREALMS reports has the mandate to drive an awareness programme that will deepen financial literacy across the country, within the next 3 months; to leverage the committee's assets in order to deliver the promised access to financial services to 90 million Nigerians over the next 30 months, through a combined mobile base, Integrated Identity systems, and distribution network; and to work in collaboration with other stakeholders and engage proactively with the government to ensure the telecommunications sector contributes its quota to the national goal of attaining 80 per cent total financial inclusion and 70 per cent formal financial inclusion by 2020.

In the short-term, the committee aims to deliver financial services to up to 35 million Nigerians and increase financial literacy and awareness within 12 months. The longer term goal of delivering access to 90 million people across 773 local government areas by 2020 will be achieved through the conversion of it’s over one million airtime agents to mobile money agents.

Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of ALTON was quoted as saying; "The inauguration of this committee is a positive and necessary first step to achieving our goals of improving inclusion and literacy. We are focused on delivering sustainable solutions to achieve long-term results. The potential of our sector's participation in these efforts is enormous. The telecommunications subscribers database is the most comprehensive, our coverage is vast and this speaks to the potential that we have as a group to truly contribute to solving some of the challenges that have been faced so far."

The purpose of the inauguration was defined as a formal introduction to the start of the journey, and more importantly, to reaffirm their commitments, and begin the process of defining the next steps in this initiative.

The committee also spent some time discussing the recent publication of exposure guidelines for the licensing and regulation of Payment Service Banks in Nigeria, articulating necessary next steps and direction.

"We commend the Federal Government and the CBN for the recently released exposure guidelines for Payment Services Bank (PSB) License, a welcome development that will play a critical role in accelerating financial inclusion," added Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of ALTON.

Johnson Oyewo of MTN Nigeria and Secretary of the Committee, stated, "Our job is to ensure that our industry contributes effectively to financial inclusion and literacy in Nigeria. This committee is being inaugurated at an opportune time with the recent announcement by the CBN, allowing for an inclusive model that encourages all players to contribute towards driving financial inclusion in the country."





Chuks Egbune/GEE




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12 Sins of Mobile Operators in Nigeria in 12 years

How time flies, just 12 years ago, the telecommunications subscribers cum consumers have groaned in pains as a result of poor quality service of the telecommunications operating companies, so says the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS).

According to NATCOMS president, Deolu Ogunbanjo, in a 12 Sins of Mobile Operators in Nigeria as listed in his letter to the operators through the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) seeking compensation, he justified their demands, arguing that the N5000 per subscriber as compensation for poor quality of service in the next 12 years, should be free to be used across networks.

Some of the sins of mobile operators based on deficiencies, he told ITRealms, include:

"1. Dialing a number between 5-10 times before getting connected /not-connected

2. Dialing several times and still getting a ‘call failed’ message.

3. Moving from one place to the other in search of network signal before receiving or making calls

4. When you dial and eventually connected, you will be a lucky subscriber if both caller and recipient can hear each other without voice-breaks. Often times, the caller /recipient may hear the recipient /caller, while the caller /recipient cannot hear. Yet this incomplete call is paid for.

5. Sometimes when both of you are connected and you can hear each other, after talking for few minutes, one of you will not hear the other again. The call has been terminated by one of the networks.

6. When you have tried to call through voice to no avail, you want to try the SMS (Text Massage) alternative. After typing your SMS and trying to send, it may not sail through, even after several trials as it gives the usual ‘message sending failed’ on the screen. You must keep trying even if it takes 15-30 minutes before a successful attempt.

7. When your Text Message (SMS) is successfully sent, and the message is not delivered, the Subscriber is still charged.

8. When your mobile-phone credit gets exhausted and you try to recharge in order to make an urgent call, you may not be able to recharge no matter how many times you try at that particular time.

9. Sometimes, when you successfully recharge your phone either for voice calls or data /internet browsing and the network operator mistakenly remove Subscriber’s credit, and thereafter, Subscriber complains through operator’s customer care line or goes physically to operator’s customer care office, they deliberately keep posting Subscribers and not actually resolving the complaint. And in view of the small amounts usually involved, the Subscriber does not seek for compensation, even when he tries, the customer-care officer is trained to tell stories that will eventually frustrate the Subscriber.

10. When trying to complain to customer-care of a network problem or over-scratched recharge card with some pin numbers not showing, they will either direct you to their website or keep you waiting for between 30 minutes to 1-hour. If you are lucky to get attention and you are eventually attended to, it takes 3-6 months before crediting the subscriber, after taking the details.

11. When the Subscriber complains through network operator’s customer care line, he /she will be told that it will be resolved in few numbers of days to no avail. Even when the Subscriber physically goes to the Customer Care Centre of the network operator, it is also promises of resolution to no avail. Only 1 or 2 of every 100 cases are resolved satisfactorily.

12. When the operators run their promotions for profit motives, they deliberately congest the network to the detriment of good service quality which affects Subscribers."

Therefore, Ogunbanjo insisted that Nigerian telecom subscribers deserve to be compensated.

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How GSM operators shared N1.17bn

As the May 25 deadline for the payment of the penalties on four operators of Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications in the country, to the tune of N1,170,000,000 elapse, subscribers across all the affected networks are clamouring for the benefit to trickle down.

DigitalSENSE News recalls that on Friday, May 11, telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) sanctioned mobile service providers, namely MTN Nigeria, Etisalat, Airtel and Globacom over poor Quality of Service (QoS) in the preceding two months of March and April, 2012.

According to NCC, MTN and Etisalat, would pay N360,000,000 each, while Airtel pays N270,000,000, just as Globacom pays N180,000,000 of which they are to pay on or before May 21, 2012 or be liable to payment of additional N2,500,000, per day for as long as the contravention lasts.

Noteworthy is that NCC says the current penalties signal a new regime of quality of service management in the Nigerian telecommunications industry as promised by the leadership of the Commission under Dr. Eugene Juwah.

This penalty, NCC ascribed to poor quality of services rendered to the different subscribers on the aforementioned networks in the months of March and April 2012, as stated by the Head, Media and Public Relations at NCC, Mr. Reuben Muoka, and the details of the penalties were already communicated to the different operators.

This indicated that MTN Nigeria Communications and Etisalat, would pay the sum of N360,000,000 each while Airtel pays the sum of N270,000,000, even as Globacom got the least of the penalty in the sum of N180,000,000 of which they were to pay on or before May 25, 2012 or be liable to payment of additional N2,500,000, per day for as long as the contravention persists.

The fines was a result of the contravention of the provisions of the Quality of Service Regulations by the Nigerian Communications Commission as the operators failed to meet with the minimum standard of quality of service including the key performance indicators (KPIs).

The Commission, he said, has in line with the provisions of the regulation, monitored the performance of the operators on the different parameters as provided and the result showed that the service providers  are in contravention of the provisions.

He said, paragraph 13 and Schedule 3 Paragraph 2 of the Quality of Service Regulation 2012, stipulate that any company which contravenes this provision will be liable to pay fine as to the tune of N15,000,000.00 for each parameter for a service contravened in the month of March, 2012.

NCC said that a further sum of N2, 500,000 is attracted for each parameter for a service for each day the contravention continued throughout the month of April, 2012.

DigitalSENSE News confirms that in the letter communicating the penalties to the different operators,  signed by the Director, Legal and Regulatory Services, Ms. Josephine Amuwa, and the Head of  Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement, Engr. Ubale Maska, the Commission noted the performances in the months of January and February 2012 as being below the specified thresholds, “however, for the purpose of enforcement of the new Quality of Service Regulations, the Commission had taken these periods as grace period.”

Remmy Nweke

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QoS fine rises to N1.77bn: NCC says no payment, no dialogue

… As meeting ended in deadlock

The four-sanctioned operators of Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications in Nigeria to the tune of N1.17billion over poor quality of service (QoS), have been told to pay the fine first before the regulator could grant them any audience.

This is coming as latest development, shows that the fine has further accumulated N60 million as at the time of filing this report for the failure of operators to meet the May 25 deadline for payment of initial fine.

ITRealmsOnline recalls that on May 11, 2012, the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) penalised the four major GSM operators with a fine of N1.17 billion for failure to keep to the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) test set out by the telecom regulator for the months of March and April 2012.

The details of the penalties hitherto communicated to these operators showed that MTN Nigeria Communications and Etisalat would pay the sum of N360,000,000m each, while Airtel is to pay the sum of N270,000,000m; followed by Globacom with the sum of N180,000,000m.

All the operators are to pay the penalties on or before May 25, 2012 or be liable to payment of additional N2,500,000, per day for as long as the contravention persists.

As at the time of filing this report, it was not clear any of the operators made payment into NCC’s account, thereby amounting to six days since the expiration of the duration for payment, which calculation is N15,000,000m per operator and totaling N60m as at Thursday.

Although, ITRealmsOnline gathered that operator’s efforts to get NCC shift grounds in a meeting Wednesday ended in a deadlock, with Commission insisting the fine must be paid first before any further audience could be granted them on any issue.

Speaking to newsmen after the meeting between NCC and foursome operators, at the Commission headquarters in Abuja, Director, Public Affairs of NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, who was present at the session unambiguously declared that the Commission would not give audience to any meeting with the operators until the aforementioned fines are cleared off the table.

“We will not discuss further actions or entertain any further meeting on this matter until sanctions are complied with,” he asserted.

Ojobo who was accompanied by Head, Media and Public Relations, Mr. Reuben Muoka and Mr. Okoh Aihe; who is the Special Adviser to the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) at NCC explained that initially NCC was firm not to have any discussion with the service providers until the penalties are paid but on a second thought the management felt that there was need to listen to the service providers to see if there were going to be any new issues to be raised in regard to the issue of sanction.

He also said that the meeting attracted all the Chief Executive Officer (CEO’s) of the affected GSM operators, eventually, the operators did not come to the table with new points or challenges.

“They mentioned the issues of power, cable cuts and multiple-taxation and all of that. These challenges are not new to the Commission,” he said, but lamented that they have been repetitive on the issue of Quality of Service, which has been in discussion for six years until January 2012, when the QoS guidelines were gazette.

This, Ojobo said empowers NCC to apply sanctions to the service providers that could not meet the KPIs as indicated in the guidelines.

As at March, he said, “we still didn’t see any noticeable improvement rather we observed very, very, poor Quality of service on all the networks.”

He emphasised that the aftermath of meeting service providers who requested the Commission to review its position on latest sanctions was that there was no need to review the sanctions in the sense that these key performance indicators have not been met and because our Quality of Service guidelines have specified that there will be penalties where these KPI are not been met and therefore the Commission is not going to change its position and indeed the CEO of NCC said, there would not be any further discussions until the penalties are paid.

According to him, as matter of fact the meeting was to give the benefit of the doubt to service providers to see if there are going to be any new issues that could come up or indicate to NCC the plans they have for the improvement on the Quality of Service, but at the end, “the position of NCC still stands and the sanctions and penalties will have to be paid.”

Ojobo pointed out that since the penalty has entered the default period from the May 26, “counting from that date to anytime payment is made; it is 2.5 million per day.”

He emphasised that NCC has to make a distinction between compensation and fine, stressing that a sanction is a fine and fines are paid to government and compensation is paid to subscribers.

“What the guideline specified is fine and that fine is paid to government through the Commission. The issue of compensation has to do with specific infractions on consumers for which the consumers have made representation to the service providers,” he submitted.

Remmy Nweke

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