NCC gives reasons for commercial satellite communications guidelines

 The Nigerian Communications Commission [NCC] has said the reason behind the development of the commercial satellite communications guidelines is to ensure a well-developed and organized satellite communications market in Nigeria.

The NCC’S Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, who disclosed in Abuja, also said the commission’s new move is to appropriate legal framework that meets international best practice, encourages innovation and guarantees public safety. He said this during the opening ceremony of the Public Inquiry on the Commercial Communications Guidelines and the Draft Consumer Code of Practice Regulations (as amended) at commission’s headquarters.

The NCC EVC said the guidelines were aimed at creating a legal framework to regulate the provision and use of satellite communications services and networks, in whole or in part, within Nigeria or on a ship or aircraft registered in Nigeria. “Furthermore, the guidelines will ensure eff ective management of scarce frequency resources, especially bands where frequency is shared between satellite and terrestrial systems.

It will also encourage the use of satellite connectivity to unserved areas that lack terrestrial transmission infrastructure backbone,” he stated. Danbatta, who was represented by the commission’s Director  of Spectrum Administration Department, Austin Nwulune, said the draft consumer code of practice regulations which is an amendment of the previous regulations made in 2007 when fi nalized would provide a more robust framework for eff ective and effi cient processes/ procedures to be followed by the licensees in developing their individual consumer code to govern provision of services and other related consumer practices. “This is to ensure that consumers are adequately informed of the type of services being off ered by operators, thereby aligning with the consumers’ function of protecting the interests of consumers against unfair practices.

Furthermore, these regulations have been amended to refl ect best practices in the industry,” he further said. He added that the regulations and guidelines would complement the act and the respective licenses issued by the commission in providing standards and principles for the provision of service by licenses.

Giving an overview of the amended consumer code of practice regulations, the commission’s director, legal and regulatory services, Yetunde Akinloye, stressed that all codes must be submitted to the commission for approval, explaining that approval should be granted within 30 days of submission of a code, unless the commission informed the licensee to amend the submitted code. She said an approved code would be published in two national newspapers within 30 days of approval, adding that licencees were required to provide a copy of the approved code to consumers on request.