The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has asked Nigerian communities to protect telecoms infrastructure located in their domain for enhanced quality of services.
Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of NCC, made the appeal at the Second Edition of the Village Square Dialogue (VSD), one of the Commission’s consumer outreach programmes.
The forum with the theme: “Protection of Telecom Infrastructure for Improved Quality of Service: The Role of Residents.” was held recently in Danbatta Local Government Area (LGA) of Kano State.\
According to a statement from the NCC, Prof. Danbatta told telecoms consumers and traditional rulers at the forum to allow technical staff of service providers carry out installations of equipment and maintenance or repairs on sites to facilitate improved telecoms service delivery.
The NCC boss who was represented at the forum by Engr. Bako Wakil, Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity also urged members of communities in the LGA to guard against destruction of telecoms infrastructure, and to promptly notify service providers of any ongoing road construction activities by companies or government agencies to avoid service disruption that may arise from damaged infrastructure.
“Protecting telecoms infrastructure is very important in any community, as the ability to connect and communicate is fundamental to human existence considering its centrality in improving businesses, government services, education, communities and families to share information through seamless connections.
“Today, you simply need a computer, smartphone, and the Internet connection to do so many things and telecoms infrastructure in your communities provide the critical facilities that support Internet access to these devices and therefore, you are expected to protect the infrastructure.” Prof Danbatta said.
He noted that vandalism of telecoms infrastructure has a negative impact on the community as such damage reduces coverage area, leading to ‘dead spots’ on the network which result in poor Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) by the consumers.
In his words,: “Therefore, as a community, you are expected to report cases of telecoms infrastructure vandalism to the nearest law enforcement agents such as the Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and share adequate information received from NCC with your family, friends, neighbours.
“We believe that together and with your cooperation as critical stakeholders in the telecoms sector, we can all work with the law enforcement authorities in protecting telecoms infrastructure in your community.”
Prof Danbatta asked the participants to make use of: NCC-instituted toll-free number 622 for resolving telecoms service-related complaints; the Emergency Number 112 to get succour during emergencies; the 2442 Do -Not-Disturb Short Code for managing cases of unsolicited text messages, among others.
He also encouraged participants to leverage the various social media and Web portals of the Commission to lodge complaints for effective and satisfactory resolutions in the country’s telecoms ecosystem.
“One of the NCC’s core mandates is to ensure that the consumer is the main focus of the Commission’s regulatory activities.
“This is why Section 104 of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003 mandates the NCC to ensure that service providers meet such minimum standards of QoS as the Commission may, from time to time, specify and publish; deal reasonably with consumers; and adequately address consumer complaints”, He said.
Comment here