By JESSICA DOGO

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has commended the Edo government for its approach in safeguarding telecom infrastructure during road construction.

The NCC said that contractors notified the commission and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) before commencing road construction works.

The Executive Vice-Chairman (EVC), NCC, Dr Amimu Maida, who gave the commendation during a media breakfast meeting on Friday in Abuja, also urged other states to emulate Edo in reducing fibre cuts during construction.

“I would commend a particular state, Edo, for its approach to the matter.

“I would like to appreciate the state’s authorities in the way they have handled that collaboration in a very simple but effective manner.

“Their contractors, prior to starting any work, send out letters to the commission to inform all the telco service providers who own infrastructure to basically give them notice of work.

“That simple action has resulted in a significant decrease in the number of incidences that occur due to construction activities. So it is a model now that we are encouraging other states to adopt.”

On the quality of service that Nigerians are getting from service providers, Maida said that the commission was beginning to see positive signals through independent crowd-sourced data.

He said that more work needed to be done.

“We are still not where we want to be, but we are beginning to see the right signals.

“The quality of experience is improving rather than degrading services, but at the same time, we are seeing a rise in consumption.

“We are still not where we want to be, but are we satisfied as a regulator? I think the area of satisfaction is the fact that we are beginning to see the right signals.”

The EVC said that operators upgraded about 2,800 sites last year across the three major operators, MTN, Airtel and Globacom, covering new sites, technology upgrades from 2G and 3G to 4G and 5G, and fibre additions.

He said operators had now committed to about 12,000 additional site upgrades and deployments this year.

“These numbers in terms of the work done also support this. Last year we saw just under 3,000 sites being upgraded and introduced for coverage and capacity.

“But this year they have committed to upgrading and introducing sites, which in total are about 12,000.

“This is across the three major operators, Airtel, Globalcom, and MTM. And this is a combination of new sites which have been upgraded from slower technologies, 2G, 3G, to 4G and 5G."

On consumer protection, Maida said the NCC recently introduced a compensation directive for subscribers affected by poor service delivery.

He said the move was aimed at ensuring that consumers directly benefited, rather than the government alone collecting financial penalties from defaulting operators.

“This is something that is going to be ongoing for those operators that are not showing commitment towards improving and addressing these issues,” he said.

He said that tower companies were also included in the directive, and are required to make additional investments in power and security infrastructure to support better service delivery.

In her remarks, the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management (ECSM), Rimini Makama, said that the quarterly engagement was organised to enable the media to properly inform the public.

“This quarterly interaction is being held precisely because we believe that a well-informed press produces a well informed public.

“A well informed public is one of the strongest tools we have for driving real progress in the telecom sector,” she said.

Earlier, the Director Public Affairs, NCC, Nnena Ukoha, said that the commission looked forward to frank, constructive conversations on telecom trends.

“It is my expectation that we will constructively utilise this platform for open and frank conversations, sharing insights on the emerging trends in the telecommunications industry.” (NAN)

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