Telecommunications Customers Association (TeCA), a hitherto unheard of group, has come out of nowhere to call on the national assembly to probe subsidies in the telecom sector following fines imposed on mobile operators by Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigeria CommunicationsWeek can report.
Kenneth Obinwa and Rasheed Umar, president and secretary respectively of TeCA last week in paid advertorials in major newspapers titled: ‘Pay Customers, Not NCC’ petitioned the NCC to direct GSM companies to refund customers their money within the next five days at the end of which it will approach the courts for the enforcement of its rights.
This was sequel to NCC’s imposition of a combined fine of N1.17 billion on the four mobile operators; MTN Nigeria, Globacom, Etisalat and Airtel Nigeria
MTN Nigeria and Etisalat Nigeria were fined N360 million each, while Airtel Nigeria and Glo Mobile are to N270 million and N180 million respectively for allegedly providing poor quality of service to subscribers in the country.
But the group asked “what has NCC lost that it should demand our money should be paid to it? Does NCC have a way of giving us the money or do they want to pay it into Nigeria’s coffers for politicians to steal? NCC is one of the richest government agencies in Nigeria. NCC collects annual operating levy from all telecommunications service providers and this runs into billions every year; what are they doing with it apart from paying themselves fat salaries and allowances?.”
NCC swiftly reacted in an advertorial calling the group “faceless” and stated that it was part of a plot to discredit the regulator.
Tony Ojobo, public affairs director at NCC said: “Suggestions that such fines be paid to subscribers are not only trite but will not serve as deterrent. Our rough calculations showed that sharing the N1.17 billion to 99 million active subscribers in the network, would amount to an average of no more than N10 per subscriber.”
“This suggestion is tantamount to supporting the operators to continue to provide poor quality of service as it would be easier for operators to credit subscribers with this amount than pay penalties for poor services rendered.
Ojobo reasoned that acceding to the TeCA’s demands was capable of derailing the regulatory processes set in place by the commission to achieve acceptable quality of service in the networks within the foreseeable future.
Deolu Ogunbanjo, national president, National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (Natcomms), told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek on phone that the fines should be paid to subscribers as they are the ones suffering from the poor quality of service and sees no reason operators should pay the fines to NCC.
“We held a national meeting and concluded that subscribers should be compensated. Operators should compensate subscribers and not government as the NCC represents the government because we are being shortchanged,” said Ogunbanjo who is widely known in the telecom sector.
Ogunbanjo however called on mobile operators’ umbrella body, the Association of licensed telecom Operators of Nigeria (Alton) to sort out the issues with NCC to avoid escalation.
Bayo Banjo, president of Nigeria Internet Group (NIG) said the fine is a waste of time as the money imposed as sanctions could be realized by operators in a matter of minutes.
“If NCC must impose fines, it must be vested with similar powers as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to punish any erring operator. The NCC should allow the operators keep the money and invest it in stolen generators and other infrastructure to improve quality of service.”