The revolution in the Nigerian telecommunication sector has been a successful one since the inception of GSM in the country. Nigeria’s economy blossomed, resulting in the creation of jobs, innovations and wealth. But this success is not without its attendant shortcomings. Before now, Nigerian telecom consumers were left in the cold. The lingering issues of unsolicited messages, drop-calls, poor network service and so on, had been the bane of telecom consumers in the country, until recently when the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) intervened to save the situation.
The launch of the Nigerian Telecoms Consumers’ Year, 2017, by the regulatory agency, the NCC, came as breath of fresh air to telecom subscribers in the country. The Nigerian Telecoms Consumer Year project was conceived and designed by the NCC to focus on the challenges being faced by consumers in Nigeria and how to tackle them. The project was officially flagged off in Abuja on March 15, 2017, at the commission’s headquarters, followed by Lagos State on May 17, 2017.
According to the executive vice chairman of the NCC, Prof. Garba Danbatta, “2017 is dedicated to the Nigerian telecom consumer following a management decision that compels the NCC to ensure that the consumer enjoys a customer experience that is enhanced and consistent in time and quality. In 2017, and even beyond, the consumer will be our focus. The NCC intends to inform and educate the consumer with the sole intent of protecting and empowering them to make right decisions.”
If there is any time Nigerians should believe a government policy, it is now. The momentum at which the NCC is pushing its campaign to sensitise telecoms consumers on its willingness to protect interests and advocate better services for subscribers, has eroded any iota of doubt that it is ready to march its words with action. The choice of Lagos State as second city to flag off the telecom consumer year initiative, was not an accident or coincident but strategic in the commission’s quest to reach out to telecommunications subscribers as fast as possible. The focus of the Nigerian Telecom Consumer Year project was not meant to protect the consumers’ interests alone, but drum into their consciousness, inherent rights and privileges as one of the major stakeholders in the telecom sector.
Lagos State, apart from being the economic capital of Nigeria, has all the necessary stakeholders needed by the NCC to make this campaign a success. It serves as headquarters for most of the mobile network operators, internet service providers, financial institutions, the media, big and small scale businesses, and millions of active subscribers. So, there is no other better place to launch the campaign after Abuja than Lagos.
Prof Danbatta said, “The state is home to many of the key players in the telecommunication sector, so it is understandable that it has been selected as the flag-off city after the major event in Abuja.
“The NCC 2017 Year of the Nigerian Telecom Consumer is remarkable because the consumer is centre stage. We must also remember that these consumers have made all the success stories we speak about possible in the telecom industry today. The rates at which consumers receive telemarketing and unwanted messages from mobile network operators and internet service providers would reduce drastically, as they can now activate the Do-Not-Disturb short code using the 2442 toll and forwarding unresolved complaints to the NCC using 622 toll-free lines.
Speaking in the same line of thought, the executive commissioner (stakeholder management), Mr Sunday Dare said, “The year was significant because it was the first time the NCC will single out the consumer and dedicate a year of activities towards safeguarding the rights, protecting the interests, and empowering the consumer to make informed decisions, but above all, to place the consumer atop the stakeholder ladder of the NCC. The telecoms consumer is one of the key stakeholders in the stakeholder ladder of the commission. With a base of over 154 million subscribers, the Nigerian consumers dominate the African telecommunications landscape.”
The good news is that the Nigerian Telecom Consumer Year project has begun to yield the desired results. It is encouraging that barely two months after the national campaign was flagged off, there have been progress report in the activation of the ‘Do-Not-Disturb’ short code using designated 2442 facility. More than one million telecom consumers activated the 2442 Do-Not-Disturb code since the launch of this exercise two months ago, while more subscribers reported their unresolved complaints using the NCC’s 622 toll-lines in the same period.
The two months of implementation of this telecom consumer project can be adjudged a huge success going by the gains recorded so far. The era of crass impunity of mobile network operators and internet service providers has come to an end, and a new season when telecom subscribers will be treated as kings and queens is gradually emerging.
In 2016 alone, it was stated that telecom consumers in the country spent a whooping sum of $6.6 billion on telecommunication services. It will be inhuman and unprofessional on the side of mobile network operators not to reciprocate with improved quality of services.
One of the mandates of the NCC is to make sure that telecom services rendered to subscribers are commensurate with the bills they pay. Nigerian consumers should seize this opportunity to resolve all the challenges they face in utilising telecom services.
Chidiebere wrote from Abuja
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