Nigeria’s telecom sector is at risk of shutdown as workers under the aegis of Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association (PTECSSAN) have embarked on strike over sack, and poor working conditions among others.

Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, ALTON

This was as the union on Monday threatened to cripple telecommunications services nationwide.

Okonu Abdullahi, secretary-general, made this known in a statement on Monday while announcing the commencement of the strike.

Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), reacting to the development, said that the group is unknown to its members which include MTN, Globacom, Airtel, 9-mobile and other telcos in the country.

But Abdullahi, said that the action of his union “ has become inevitable because of the prevalent precarious working conditions our members are enduring in the sector, the refusal of the employers to recognise and respect the constitutional right of these workers to freely associate with the union, and the unjust sack of three members of the union,”

He noted that its members are over 800 working at various Nigeria telecoms company facilities, network centers and other critical telecommunications, including IHS and Huawei.

The union, among other things, is demanding the reinstatement of some of its sacked workers, recognition of the union, improved working conditions, and remittance of membership dues.

“The implications of the strike will be massive because we have told all our members not to respond to any service outage from our employers.

“The fact remains that there are outages every day, and if our engineers do not respond to those outages, subscribers in those areas will be affected,” he said.

However, Adebayo of ALTON, said that “This group is not known to us in ALTON, and the companies mentioned are not members of ALTON”,

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced the introduction of a Device Management System (DMS) aimed at bolstering security and protecting consumers in the country’s mobile device market.

It said the DMS will serve as a comprehensive Central Equipment Identity Register, creating a unified database for tracking and monitoring mobile devices across all network operators in Nigeria.

The new regulation, outlined in the ‘Type Approval Business Rule 2024’, aims to prevent phone theft, curb the use of counterfeit devices, and ensure compliance with established standards.

All mobile network operators are required to connect to the DMS and mirror network-related policies configured by the NCC, ensuring a uniform approach to device regulation.

This move is expected to significantly improve the security and integrity of Nigeria’s communication networks, protecting consumers and promoting a safer mobile ecosystem.

“NCC-DMS shall acquire the International Mobile Equipment Identity of all devices latching to the communication network and synchronize with international databases of IMEI repositories.

“NCC-DMS shall maintain a registry of all communication devices available in the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the commission noted in the new rule.

A device registration fee was also introduced by the NCC for the NCC-DMS, separate from existing type approval fees. This fee will be mandatory for all registered devices.

The commission’s objective, first announced in 2021, is to enhance transparency, accountability, and national security in the telecommunications sector while ensuring the safe and efficient utilization of Nigeria’s communication infrastructure.

“To curtail the counterfeit mobile phone market, discourage mobile phone theft, enhance national security, protect consumer interest, increase revenue generation for the government, and reduce the rate of kidnapping.

“To mitigate the use of stolen phones for crime, and facilitate blocking or tracing of stolen mobile phones and other smart devices, one of the means to achieve this is through the deployment of Device Management System,” the commission said in a statement.

Workers in the nation’s telecommunications industry under the aegis of the Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association (PTECSSAN) will today (Monday) begin an indefinite nationwide strike over sack, and poor working conditions among others.

Among the employees going on strike include field maintenance engineers, transmission engineers, customer service engineers, fibre engineers, and other critical staff.

There are fears that strike could disrupt telecommunications services nationwide if not resolved quickly.

PTECSSAN had given notice of the strike in a statement signed by Mr Okonu Abdullahi, its general secretary.

Abdullahi said the strike had become necessary following alleged anti-labour practices including the refusal of the employers to recognise and respect the workers’ constitutional rights to freely associate with the union.

He alleged also that three members of the union were unjustly sacked. He said: “We shall not be suspending the planned indefinite strike action until our demands, which are as follows, are met:

“Immediate reinstatement of the three unjustly sacked workers: Sotola Sunday Kolawole, Ulu Ikechukwu Christopher and Alex Franklin C.”

“Immediate recognition of the fundamental right of the employees to freely associate with the union, “ he said.

According to the general secretary, other demands include immediate recognition of the union as the negotiating body for the employees on workers welfare.

He said also that the union was demanding the immediate remittance of membership dues into its account as earlier provided among others.

“We hope that these companies will utilise the seven-day window of this notice to meet our demands and avert the indefinite strike action,” Abdullahi said