Regulator warns on bogus xmas promo

Industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has cautioned telecommunications operators in the country against introducing bogus promos as the Christmas season approaches.

The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), NCC, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, who gave this warning in Lagos, recently, said that operators must be guide against making bogus promises to the consumers during the festive seasons, as sanctions awaits any erring service providers to this effect.

Ndukwe who delivered a lecture on Nigeria’s leadership and Vision 20 20-20, noted that Consumer Affairs bureau of the Commission has been mandated to make an assessment of the incentives coming from various operators by way of promotions and other consumer focused offers to ensure that they are delivered in the best interest of the subscribers without compromising the quality of services being delivered.

He also said operators are aware of the key performance indicators issued by the commission which they are expected to take into consideration in providing services and incentives.

Counseling consumers to be very wary of their choices for telecommunications services as there are many operators in the market to choose from, Ndukwe who dwelt on “Nigeria’s Vision 20 20-20: Imperatives of ICT Knowledge-Driven Economy” said that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) drives the global economy and is also key to foreign investments as a country with the requisite ICT would attract the best of investments.

“The fact that we now have some global operators like Visa Card, MasterCard and similar online banking services is as a result of the improved ICT environment in Nigeria,” he said.

Ndukwe further indicated that with these facilities, online booking of flights and other services in the country has become a reality, while doctors could engage in medical diagnosis and treatments over long distances.

Ndukwe said the revolution and possibilities existing in Nigeria today could be traced to the environment, and not just mere campaign because no amount of campaign around the world would have brought these services without the infrastructure on ground.

“We have these services because we have available ICT base upon which these services can thrive”, he said.

He noted that the nation is encouraged by government’s determination to ensure that Nigeria becomes one of the 20th economies in the year 2020 and that ICT in Nigeria is already directed towards the realization of these national objectives.

Ndukwe pointed out that with the regulatory emphasis tilting towards the provision of broadband infrastructure, the needs for ICT for accelerated social and economic growth towards the vision of the government would be achieved.

He predicted that given the current growth rate, Nigeria’s teledensity by 20-20 would be more than 100 per cent., stressing that power supply is critical to this vision, hence, the concerted efforts by the government to address these issues.

Equally speaking, President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, said there is need for the entire citizenry to embrace ICT as the nation moves ahead anybody without relevant knowledge in today’s world would soon be left behind.

Former Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Chief Arthur Mbanefo, requested government, especially the Ministry of Education to be proactive by finding a way to include ICT in the educations curricular to ensure that Nigeria and its future generation is attuned to the imperatives of ICT driven economy.

For the former nation’s envoy to Ethiopia, Ambassador Segun Olusola, commended the NCC for managing a very stable relationship with the broadcast sector, which he said has also resulted in many remarkable achievements in the sector.

The event organized by Leadership Watch, an non-governmental organization (NGO) and telecom rights advocacy group led by Rev. Dr. Martins Iwuanyanwu, saw MultiLinks and Zain emerging winners for customer focused services for the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) categories respectively.


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