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As telecommunications consumers in Nigeria, you have obligations to complement efforts by government to protect telecommunications infrastructures so as to sustain or even improve the quality of service delivery by the service providers.
When telecommunications infrastructures are vandalized, they compromised quality of service (QoS) and also put a hefty unwanted financial burden on operators. In addition, this heightens the sense of insecurity for investors.
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For the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), consumers are critical stakeholders in the sector to ensuring the safety and security of telecommunications infrastructures.
This is why the NCC has been embarking on nationwide sensitization programme to help drive this message home. Recently, in Wannune, Tarka Local Government Area of Benue State, the NCC told telecom consumers that aside from the role of the law enforcement agencies in protecting telecom infrastructure, the consumers, who are the subscribers and ultimate users of telecom services, have an obligation to do everything to protect telecoms infrastructure in their environment. These include the base transceiver stations (BTS), the underground fibre optic cable, as well as associated infrastructure.
Also, during a Village Square Dialogue (VSD), one of NCC’s consumer outreach programmes in Danbatta Local Government Area, Kano state with a focus on, “Protection of Telecom Infrastructure for Improved Quality of Service: The Role of Residents,” the telecom regulator noted that vandalism of telecom infrastructure has a negative impact on the community as it reduces coverage area, leading to ‘dead spots’ on the network which result in poor QoS and quality of experience (QoE) by the consumers.
Consumers must have communal responsibility towards telecoms infrastructures and should work to complement the NCC’s efforts at improving QoS by protecting infrastructure in their various communities, NCC stated at several of its nationwide VSDs.
“As a community, you are expected to report cases of telecoms infrastructure vandalism to the nearest law enforcement agents such as the Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and share adequate information received from NCC with your family, friends, neighbours.
“We believe that together and with your cooperation as critical stakeholders in the telecoms sector, we can all work with the law enforcement authorities in protecting telecom infrastructure in your community,” said Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta at the second edition of its VSD in Kano.
“One of the major challenges to quality of service that operator provide to you, is vandalism of telecom infrastructure, such as Base Transceiver Stations (BTS). Others are theft, hostility from some host communities, which have continued to pose a major setback to the industry. Therefore, it is imperative for the public to regard telecom facilities as collectively-owned infrastructure that are crucial and essential for the provision of efficient and acceptable telecom services. The more reason these facilities need to be adequately protected,” the telecoms regulator said.
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